And that was the end of the argument--at least as far as her mother was concerned. With a sparkle, the Scribe Virgin disappeared.
Payne hollered into the vast blankness, "Release me! Damn you! Release me!"
She half expected to be slain on the spot, but then the torture would be over, and where was the fun in that.
"Mother!"
When there was no reply, Payne wheeled around and wished to Dhunhd there was something to throw--but there was nothing to set her grip upon and the symbolism was a scream in her head: nothing for her, there was absolutely nothing for her here.
Approaching the door, she unleashed her anger, ripping the thing from the hinges and throwing it backward into the cold, empty room. The white panel bounced twice and then skidded freely across the unobstructed expanse, a pebble upon the surface of a still pond.
As she stalked out toward the fountain, she heard a series of clicks, and when she looked over her shoulder, she saw that the portal had fixed itself, magically resealing its empty jambs, forming exactly what had been there before with nary a scratch to show for what she'd done to it.
Fury rose within her such that it choked her throat and made her hands shake.
In the corner of her eye, she saw a black-robed figure coming down the colonnade, but it was not her mother. It was merely No'One with a basket of offerings for the Scribe Virgin, her limp shifting her gait from side to side.
The sight of the misfortunate, excluded Chosen fueled her rage even further--
"Payne?"
The sound of the deep voice whipped her head around: Wrath stood by the white tree of colorful songbirds, his massive form dominating the courtyard.
Payne sprang at him, turning him into a target she could fight. And the Blind King clearly sensed her violence and her vicious approach: In the blink of an eye, he fell into his fighting stance, becoming powerful, prepared, and ready.
She gave him everything she had and more, her fists and legs flying at him, her body becoming a whirl of punches and kicks, which he deflected with his forearms and dodged by ducking hi
s torso and head.
Faster, tougher, deadlier, she kept at the king, forcing him to return what she was putting to him or risk getting seriously injured. His first hard strike caught her in the shoulder, his fist crashing into her, throwing her off balance--but she recovered quickly and spun around, leading with her leg and foot.
The impact to his gut rocked him so hard he grunted--at least until she spun once more and struck him in the face with her knuckles. As blood exploded, and the dark lenses o'er his eyes skittered away, he cursed.
"What the fuck, Pay--"
The king didn't have a chance to finish her name. She plowed into him, catching him around the waist, driving his huge weight backward. There was no true contest, however. He was twice her size, and he took charge with ease, peeling her off of him and flipping her around to hold her, back to his front.
"What the fuck is your problem?" he snarled in her ear.
She slammed her head backward, nailing him in the face, and his grip loosened for a split second. Which was all she needed to break away. Flipping free of him by using his oak-strong body as a platform to fly from, she--
Vastly underestimated her momentum. Instead of landing with her weight perpendicular to the ground, she pitched forward--which meant she hurt one foot badly, her body tumbling wildly to the side.
The marble edge of the fountain kept her from hitting the ground, but the impact was worse than if she'd fallen flat.
The crack of her back was loud as a scream.
And so was the pain.
Chapter Sixty-two
When Lash woke up at his hideaway ranch, the first thing he did was look at his arms.
Along with his hands and wrists, his forearms were now shadows as well, a kind of smog- like form that moved as he told it to, and either be nothing more than air or could bear weight at his command.
Sitting up, he shoved off the blanket he'd pulled over himself and stood. What do you know, his feet were pulling a disappear, too. Which was good, but. . . shit, how long was the transformer bit going to take? He had to assume that if his body still had physical form, with a heartbeat and needs like food and drink and sleep, he wasn't completely safe from bullets and knives.
Plus, frankly, given all the pieces that had fallen off him, bio-waste management was really fucking messy.