6.17
The arena is outdoors, and hot, and terribly uncomfortable. Demons are packed into the stands shoulder to shoulder, loudly talking and laughing with one another, barely bothering to clear a path as Naberius and Morse lead Austin through the throng. They reach the edge of the stands, a low, stone wall separating the spectators from the wide, flat ring of sand where the fight will take place, and stop. Austin can see Kesi and Gen doing the same, across the way - Gen waves at him, and he averts his gaze, picking at a hole in his jeans.
“Nervous?” Morse asks. His tone is conversational, but Austin can tell it’s masking something sadder.
Austin forces a grin. “Are you kidding? I get to kill a witch with a sword. I’ve wanted to do that since I was, like, four.”
He shifts his weight. He keeps expecting for his danger sense to kick in again and send him doubling over to vomit, but his stomach has felt oddly light since they left Naberius’s estate. Maybe it’s a good omen. Or maybe it means there’s nothing left inside of him to throw up at the moment.
“You get to kill a witch with a dagger,” Naberius corrects him gently, handing him the weapon in question.
Austin tightens his grip on the hilt, feeling the cold, polished curve of it under his fingers. He didn’t even make some snide comment about me not being able to kill Gen. Maybe he really thinks I can do this. Maybe I can do this.
He catches another glimpse of Gen, her features blurring together from the distance, and reminds himself that she’s the whole reason he’s in this situation. She’s the one who summoned Crocell back, who hurt Landis and got Otter possessed. He tries to dig inside of himself, tap into the well of anger that’s lived in him ever since Richard’s funeral - I was four, then, too - and comes up empty. He doesn’t feel angry, not really. He feels exhausted, and lonely.
How do you win a fight powered by loneliness? Austin’s grip on the dagger slackens a little. He remembers his dream, of his hands shaking around the handle of a knife, wet with blood, but he can’t recall which direction the blade was pointed in.
“Naberius,” a voice from behind him says, and Austin, Naberius, and Morse all turn to see Abyss, smiling like they have the best secret in the world to tell. Naberius arches an eyebrow.
“I thought you wanted to get a good seat before they were all gone?”
“I’ve got something much better than a good seat,” Abyss says, and steps to one side. Austin barely has time to process what he’s looking at before a body hurtles into him full force, smacking into him like a cannonball and leaving him winded. He drops his dagger almost on instinct, not wanting to accidentally stab anyone, and hears it clatter to the ground.
“Austin!” Otter’s voice says from somewhere above him, as he finds himself with his face mashed into a familiar collarbone. “Austin, you’re okay! I mean, I know you’re about to fight someone to the death, but -”
“Shut up,” Austin says, standing on tiptoe and struggling upwards to kiss Otter.
Eventually, Otter just lifts him, supporting the small of Austin’s back in his arms and holding him in place. Austin puts his hands in Otter’s hair, breathing him in, a familiar, sterile smell tinged with some sweet, probably demonic perfume he doesn’t recognize. Even after they’re done kissing, he stays with his forehead pressed against Otter’s, just breathing. Just to see Otter again, and here, of all places - it feels like a weight’s been lifted off Austin’s chest.
“I wrote you a letter,” he says, “in case I died.”
“Do I still get to read it if you live?” Otter asks, smiling, his lips inches away from Austin’s own.
Austin laughs. “No way. Put me down?”
Otter releases him, and steps to the side, leaving no one in between Austin and Landis. Landis’s eyes have bruise-dark circles under them again, darker than Austin has seen in a long time, and something in his expression looks far away, but his lips twitch into a genuine grin when he sees Austin looking. Austin’s heart hammers in his chest.
“Landis,” he says.
“Austin,” Landis says, quietly.
Austin closes the distance between them in a motion that’s more of a lunge than anything. Landis must think he’s going for a hug, because he bends slightly, starting to put his arms out, and makes a startled sort of shriek when Austin’s mouth smashes into his. Austin winces as he feels their teeth collide, and backs off, rubbing his jaw.
“Ow,” he says, grinning back at Landis, flooded with adrenaline.
“Ow,” Landis repeats, dumbly, touching two fingers to his lips in wonder.
Austin kisses him again. It’s better this time - Landis knows it’s coming, and leans into it, his lips cold but pleasantly yielding under Austin’s own. Austin reaches up to cup Landis’s cheeks and finds them equally as cold, sticky with the tracks of recently shed tears. Landis tenses for a moment, then folds his hands over Austin’s own, looping his fingers around Austin’s palms, still clutching at them when they separate from each other.
Landis holds Austin’s gaze for a moment, but his eyes slide sideways, warily, peeking at Otter. Austin does the same, not sure what he’s expecting to find. Otter looks thoughtful - decidedly not mad, but thoughtful, a smile still playing around his lips.
“Sorry,” Landis offers, his voice barely above a whisper.
“Don’t be,” Otter says.
“I should be the one who’s sorry,” Austin chimes in. “You could’ve lost a tooth.”
“You didn’t tell me you had two boyfriends,” Morse says from over Austin’s shoulder, his voice tinged with undisguised jealousy.
Austin looks between Landis and Otter, feeling suddenly very warm from the inside out. His hands are shaking a little, and he balls them up at his sides to make them stop, squeezing his fingers against his palms. “I didn’t know I did until just now, actually.”
From behind the other two, Walker clears his throat loudly, and smirks once he’s gotten Austin’s attention.
“What, I don’t get a kiss?” he asks in a tone halfway between serious and sarcastic, raising both eyebrows.
“You fucking wish,” Austin says. Still, he throws his arms around Walker’s chest and hugs him, enjoying the genuinely startled look on the other man’s face.
“Jacob doesn’t know about this, does he?” Austin asks, once he lets go.
Walker shakes his head. “Nope.”
“Let’s keep it that way,” Austin says. His face feels flushed, his palms sweaty as he bends over to pick up his dagger again. “How’d you all get here, anyway?”
“We summoned Abyss,” Otter says, jabbing a thumb at the demon, who’s caught up in an animated conversation with Naberius, and doesn’t seem to have noticed the human drama going on right beside them.
“You didn’t make a -”
“No, no contracts,” Walker says. “Just an off-the-books arrangement. We thought maybe we could get you out of here, but -”
“Austin not participating in the fight would be a breach of contract,” Morse says, sounding a little disappointed.
Walker’s mouth sets in a thin, hard line. “Yeah. That.”
“Actually,” Landis says, his voice a little louder than before, more resolute somehow. “I worked out a solution to that.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Morse says. “The fight has to go on, no matter what. You can’t just whisk Austin away with no consequences.”
“Morse is right.” Austin looks down at the dagger in his hands. He tilts it, looking at his reflection in the flat of the blade, catching the gaze of his own pale green eye. “I’m not getting out of here unless I kill Gen.”
“Gen?” Otter asks. “Wait, like Gen from the diner? The witch? The one who -”
“Yeah.”
“Shit,” Otter says, drawing out the word as he looks across the arena to see the truth for himself. He shifts uncomfortably next to Landis. “Well, okay, so what’s the plan?”
Landis touches his fingers to his lips again, pensively, turning his head to look at Gen. Austin looks, too - strangely, Gen shrinks away from Landis’s gaze, turning her back on the arena. It’s a strange gesture, and Austin almost starts to try and puzzle it out before Landis speaks up again.
“I’ll fight in Austin’s place,” he says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “I’ll take on his contract, and fight in his place.”