Now would be a great time for Roharu to pop in out of nowhere and save the day. I sigh and look around the room. Next to me, Chloe is silently freaking out. There are streaks of tear stains down her face, but at least she isn’t crying hysterically anymore.

  Scratch that. I wish she would say something. Her silence is scaring me more than the man in front of us with his white tufts of hair and his brown and green moles on his face and hands. He rubs his hands down his robe and mutters something to himself.

  I am not having a good time. There is no feeling in my arms and even though my legs aren’t bound, they feel just as numb as my arms do. This sucks. Roharu and I should have never left that cave.

  The other women next to me hang there from the walls, lifelessly. Closer to them now, I can see they aren’t breathing, and it wasn’t just my imagination earlier. I need to do something. Anything. I thrash against the chains, but it’s no use. My body is working against me. Tired. Man, my body is just tired. The man looks up and smiles.

  Gross.

  His teeth are rotting.

  He must have done something when he knocked us out. The willpower burns in my gut, but getting my body to move is like trying to push a boulder up a hill.

  “No use in fighting, dearie. This will be over in a moment.” He pulls out a book from the shelf and flips the pages. “I sense great magic within you. You will be the key.” He smiles again and my stomach revolts. I swallow the bile down and clear my throat.

  “How am I the key? To what?”

  He pauses and then sets the book down on a table next to a cauldron. The candles give off an eerily light. When I get back home, to my apartment, I’m throwing out every single candle I have.

  My heart pangs. Going home means leaving Roharu.

  “How do you know?” I try again, motioning with my head at the other women long gone. “You tried with them and whatever you are seeking didn’t work. How do you know I’m the key or if this is the right method?”

  “You wish to prolong your death?” He chuckles. “Very well. There is no harm.” He waves a hand and conjures a chair. “I wish to live forever.” He pces one leg over the other as he sits. “Humans have such pitiful lifespans. In the blink of an eye, they are gone. They are weak, but breed like a pack of vermin.”

  Chloe grunts.

  I try to shoot her a keep it together look.

  “So, is it the number you are going for? Because there are things out there that live far longer than humans do and are way more powerful,” I lie. Or maybe I’m telling the truth. “It just seems like you’re working harder and not smarter by wasting your time gathering humans.”

  He considers me for a moment. “Humans are easier to catch because they are weak.”

  “Okay, but how many humans have you had to kill and for what?” I grimace. “You look as though you are fading away right now, and these bodies.” My stomach churns. “Why they look fresh! And you don’t look any younger. I mean, has rigor mortis even set in?” I roll my eyes, pretending to be sympathetic to his plight. “You gotta work smarter. I mean, you can conjure chairs and stuff. What else can you do?”

  Chloe stares at me, but I force myself not to meet her gaze or else I may crack. Please, just go along with it. Yeah, I’m talking out of my ass here, but Mr. Creep is soaking up the attention.

  “Portals, naturally.” He reclines in the chair and csps his hands together. “Though gathering humans is easier than gathering demons.” His eyes lighten. “You came with demons.”

  I bite my tongue. Maybe I should have done that in the first pce.

  “Yes, that’s it.” He stands and waves his hand in the air as if to make a point. “Demons live far longer than humans. Though I’ll still need to harvest the energy from both of you, no sense in allowing it to go to waste.” He eyes Chloe for a moment. “I’ll start with you.”

  “What? No!” I clear my throat. “You don’t want Chloe. She doesn’t have any magic or whatever.”

  “This girl has plenty of magic.” He strokes his chin. “But she is weak. No matter.” He waves a hand in the air and the shackles disappear. Chloe falls to the ground and groans.

  Crap! I try to break free, but I can’t. I need to do something.

  “If you take her now, you won’t be able to get those demons you want.”

  He pauses. “I have you.”

  Chloe rubs her wrist and wobbles to her feet.

  “So, you only want one demon? Her demon won’t care if she’s not around. And their sense of smell is crazy. He’d know before he even gets close if you did something to her,” I ramble off, keeping his attention on me. Chloe grabs the chair. “Remember, work smarter, not harder. A trap would be so much better. You know they will come for us, but if they smell that we are gone, then...” I blow out a breath as if the words are too heavy to say.

  He moves closer to me and touches my leg. I grit my teeth. His touch is light, but revolting. His nails are so long, they may as well be talons. “Perhaps I should feast on your brain. You have lots of ideas.”

  “Finally, someone appreciates me for my smarts.”

  Chloe raises the chair and hits him in the back of his head. He yells as he falls. She hits him again. And one more time.

  “Candles! Burn him!”

  Mr. Creep withers on the ground. He lifts a hand right as Chloe chucks a candle on his back. She holds one in her hand, walks around, and kicks him in the face.

  Crack!

  I wince. That sounds like it hurts.

  “That’s for knocking us out!” She kicks him again. “And this is for the other dies.” Chloe squats and smashes the candle in his face.

  He screams and rears back. Something shoots out of his hand. Holy shit. My eyes widen. That could have killed me. The chain dangles on the floor.

  Okay. One chain down. One more to go. I grit my teeth. Now would be a great time to develop superhuman strength. Maybe if I squeeze my eyes shut and concentrate?

  “... Megan, what are you doing?”

  “Trying to gather up all my energy so I can break free.”

  “You look constipated.”

  I open my eyes and scowl. “Gee, thanks. Is he dead?” Seriously, there has to be a way or some kind of trick to get these powers to work.

  Chloe looks down, frowns, and then grabs another candle. She lights his robes on fire. “Where’s the key?”

  “You worthless human!”

  “Wrong answer!” She sets the candle down and picks the chair up. “I’ll smash your face in. Where’s. The. Key.”

  I almost feel sorry for the guy. Almost. He’s still awful for what he did to those women and what he was pnning to do to us. Screw him. I hope he burns to death.

  “By the cauldron—AH!”

  “You think I’m stupid? Where’s the key before I start getting creative?”

  He throws off his robes and I dry heave. Oh, that is not it. His body is twisted. There’s hardly any fat on him. His skin isn’t translucent. It may as well be transparent, because without the robes I can see through him.

  To her credit, Chloe doesn’t falter. She gres at him until he tosses the key her way. His hands shake. I squint. Oh, his hands are bck. Burned. He can barely close them. Chloe grabs the keys and walks backwards.

  “Here,” she says. “I don’t want to take my eyes off him.”

  “Got it.” I grab the key with my free hand and exhale. Okay, I can do this. I cough.

  Smoke.

  Crap. That’s right, the robe is burning. I grit my teeth and dig my heels into the wall for more leverage. My body feels so sluggish. It has to be from being in this position for so long. Just a little more.

  And got it.

  Ow! I wince and rub my butt. I knew that was going to happen, and I still fell ft on my ass. It’s a bit of a struggle to get to my feet, but I feel a thousand times better now that I’m not hanging. The chain cnks. Chloe scoops it up and holds it close to her. Gotta say, I’m a little proud of how brave she is right now.

  “We should tie him up,” I say, motioning to the chain she picked up.

  “Tch.” The man flexes his fingers. “A minor setback. Should have never listened to your damn prattle. Wenches the both of you.” He presses a hand to his temple and mutters.

  Chloe wraps the chain around her fist and punches him in the nose. He staggers back and his foot nds on the burning robe. I bite back the sigh. Okay. Guess we’re just going for it. Chloe shrugs.

  Oh shit.

  I push Chloe out of the way. The bst comes straight for me. Welp, I didn’t think this through, but it was fun while it sted. I crack an eye open.

  Huh?

  I’m still here? Wait. Shadows? Roharu?

  “Vixen, why are you always getting into some kind of situation?” Roharu asks, but there’s a bite to his words. His arms are filthy. What the heck has he been up to? That is a crap ton of grime on him. I half expect him to crook a finger at me and demand that I come to him, but Roharu surprises me and rushes over to me instead. He runs his hands down my body. “Are you hurt anywhere?”

  I shake my head. “No. A little shaken up, but I’m okay physically.”

  There’s a scream. I turn to look.

  Roharu cups my face and keeps my attention on him. “You don’t need to see that.”

  “I’m not delicate. I can handle it.” His eyes darken and heat spreads throughout my body. “That’s not what I meant. Don’t distract me.”

  He chuckles. “Is he the owner of this dungeon?”

  “If he is, then it should break down, right?” Katsuro yells over the screaming. “Just gotta kill him, right?”

  “PLEASE STOP!” the man begs. “I can help you. I’m more useful than them. If you want out, I can get you out. A portal.” He holds his hands out in front of him as though he is praying to Katsuro. “A portal, yes? You want out? I can get you out.”

  “He’s a mage?” Roharu questions, pulling away from me. He stalks over and squats in front of the man. “What were you pnning to do to my vixen?” He grabs the man’s face, digging his cws into the skin. I stand a little way off, next to Chloe, and rub my hands up and down my arms. Apollo trots over and brushes his snout against my arm.

  “I promise, I’m okay,” I assure him. “Can’t say the same for them.” My body sags against Apollo. Man, I’m tired. If I never see a dungeon again, I’ll be happy. “Chloe? You good?”

  She startles and looks at me. The chain is still wrapped around her fist. “Yeah, I’m good. Just wondering what the holdup is.”

  Roharu spears the man through the chest with his cws.

  “... Nevermind. He didn’t even use a dagger.”

  “Do you want this?” He stands and holds the heart out to me.

  “Is that a joke?”

  Roharu gnces at the heart for a moment and then tosses it behind him. It nds in the cauldron. It bubbles over and all the candles are blown out. My stomach clenches. That’s not good. The room shakes. I hold on to Apollo and Chloe holds on to me.

  It’s pitch bck. Someone else touches me and the yelp bubbles in my throat.

  “Roharu?” I croak out.

  “Who else?” He pulls me flush against him.

  If I wasn’t so out of my mind with fear, I’d hit him. Or tug on his ears. Chloe’s arms unwrap from around me. Katsuro must have her. At least I hope he does. There’s a crack of light and then my vision goes white. My hands tighten around Roharu.

  Whatever happens, don’t let me get separated from Roharu again.

  AutumnBanks

  Thanks for reading! Next update will be on Wednesday. And if anyone is interested, I write jjk fanfics on Ao3 under the same name.