Perdition's Child

Chapter 24

Darkrei transferred the lock on Mehk's bike from his own vehicle to his mobile house platform, apparently not trusting him not to flee. Mehk didn't take it too personally, since he would have.

It was a larger platform since Darkrei's pack often visited, painted an obnoxious yellow and blue and divided into two rooms and a loft. The roof had an outdoor kitchen and hammock for catching the scant desert breeze while napping. "The girl I need you to take to Chiral is staying here, but she's been helping Sierra with her café. Go take a short nap or watch a show, it's about time to pick her up anyway."

"Collecting up strays again, Darkrei? Don't you know by now you'll just keep getting bit?" Cheerfully ignoring him, Darkrei hopped back astride his bike and waved before he pulled out, either in acknowledgement or to brush off Mehks' pessimism.

Once Darkrei was out of sight Mehk fiddled uselessly with the lock on his bike, just on principal. There was no getting it off without the keycode, however. Technically nothing stopped him from simply walking away, except that he really liked that bike and didn't trust Darkrei not to impound it for three months in revenge if he kept ignoring him. TV it was then.

He was here often enough to know where everything was, so he grabbed a jar of pickled eggs out of the cooler and settled into an easy pace on the treadmill near the TV. Resigned to whatever Darkrei and the rest of the world wanted him to do later, he flicked through the options for awhile trying to find something to watch. Eventually he settled for an old action movie that promised lots of violence and vehicle chases, and tried not to fall asleep. Emotional breakdowns and three-hour drives were tiring, but he kept having bad dreams or something that made him loath to drift off.

'Once the inevitability was clear he slipped the tether around his wrist to keep from walking off. Somewhere around the second car chase and round of shooting his eyes fell closed despite fighting it.

--

The dark should have been welcome, but it didn't feel right. It wasn't the warm blank canvas he was used to, but rather a chilly, empty room. "This is new, are you giving up?"

It followed his footsteps like a proper reflection, and only the eyes gave it away. "No, you did."

He shivered, feeling his hair stand on end. "I always win direct fights. You haven't won as long as I'm still here."

"Are you?" What was that supposed to mean? Then the barrier between them was gone and he was standing on its feet, unable to tell which of them was the reflection. It got colder, and he was so horribly sluggish. "You know you are worthless."

"What does that have to do with anything?" It wasn't making sense, and he couldn't seem to reach down to yank the thing to him; he was just passively walking in its reflection, unable to muster the energy to break free.

It stopped in its tracks, staring intensely down at him. "You don't deserve this marvelous form you neglect and poison, I will take over from here. Now go to sleep." Before he could reply, something slipped and he was falling into that awful cold darkness and if he dropped much lower he knew he'd be gone forever. He opened his mouth to scream, then-