Chapter 29

I was overjoyed and horrified all at once. When I hadn’t been half-zombified by Ozzie’s mask, the fate of the crew had terribly weighed on me. If he was alive, there was a chance Zack and O’Connor had made it too! However, seeing him with his ankles shackled together as he trudged through the mud to grab some stinking orc a drink of water was horrifying. I didn’t have to care for the captain to want better than that for him.

I’d have charged right in if a powerful hand hadn’t clamped over my mouth while another grabbed my arm. “I told you to stay away,” hissed a familiar voice in my ear.

“Mmph!” That was about all I could say.

“Do you see why?” the devil said, releasing my arm so he could point ahead of us. “There’s too many of them for you to fight!”

Shoving his hand off my mouth, I took a step back, magic gathering around my hands. “Listen you demonic bastard—”

“Bastard? That isn’t called for!” he hissed, holding his hands in a submission. “Please don’t.”

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t.”

“You’ll let those orcs know you’re here, and then we’ll both be megapede feed! I just want to talk!”

That brought me up short. “Fine, then talk.”

He let out a relieved sigh. “Thank the Dark Lord, you’re as sensible as you are gorgeous. Look, you need to get back to Haven before they notice you’re gone, or else there’ll be Hell to pay.”

I flinched at the h-word. “I’d rather die.”

“Yes, that is the alternative,” he said. “How about a compromise? If you won’t go back, follow me.”

“What’s your game, devil?” I demanded.

“I’m going to fiendishly sneak you around this side of the island so you see how pointless it is to resist,” he said with a smarm that reminded me so much of Soren. That isn’t fair, Rose. Soren would be horrified to be compared to one of those monsters. “Truly, I’m an evil genius. Come along before you make some noise and the orcs notice you; they won’t be offering you tours anywhere you want to go.”

I bit my cheek as I considered his offer. I couldn’t see him too clearly, with the thick jungle canopy blocking out light from the moon and the torches, but I thought he looked much slimmer than I’d first thought. The shock of meeting a demon at all had made him like a giant in my eyes. His voice wasn’t especially deep, either. If devils aged like humans, I’d have pegged him at fifteen or sixteen.

“What’s in it for you?”

“I… I don’t like seeing people throw their lives away,” he said. “The last person who snapped out of it and tried to fight the system died… badly.”

“As if a devil can have sympathy,” I spat.

“Hey, now, I keep trying to be nice, and then you have to cut me down,” he said with a hitch in his voice. If he didn’t have softer emotions, he was good at faking it. “I’d simply hate to see someone as beautiful as you meet the same fate as that poor man.”

I planted my hands on my hips. “What, you think I’m pretty, so you want to help? Is that why you haven’t been helping anyone else?”

He shrugged, his face turning a shade redder. “I mean… mostly? It’s part of Our Father Below’s code; only help those who have something to offer you back. Speaking of, let’s trade names.” He reached out his hand. “I’m Virgil. What’s your name? I’ve never heard anyone say it, and I keep listening for it.”

“Rose Cooper,” I said, reluctantly taking his hand. “Hold on. You keep listening for it? Have you been stalking me?” I said, taking a step back.

He held up his hands, shaking his head furiously. “No, no, it wasn’t like that. I’m not allowed on the east side of the island, so I was only admiring you from afar. I’m nothing like that ruffian you went running with.”

“Wait… were you watching when Kumar tried to force himself on me?”

He nodded, his face falling. “I was so relieved when you said no. He seemed like a jerk. He’s all wrong for you.”

“And you’d be right for me?”

“Naturally,” he said, puffing up his shallow chest. “It’s lonely on this island; a woman like you doesn’t come along every day.” His face flushed again. “I can’t believe we actually get to talk like this; I thought I’d be watching forever.”

I slapped my forehead. I couldn’t deal with the fact that some teenage devil had a crush on me, or that he was the most respectful man I’d met in weeks, and that was including that he was stalking me.

Fine, if he wanted to dote on me, I’d use that to my advantage. “Let’s say I want to play along. What did you want to show me?”

“Follow me!” He reached out and gently grabbed my hand. I decided not to make anything of it; he looked so happy. “Don’t panic too much; things are about to get strange.”

“What do you—” I stopped as the light around me distorted for an instant. When the world came back into focus, Virgil was completely gone.

Except his hand gave mine a squeeze. “It’s my affinity, Shadowcloak. I can make myself and anything I’m touching invisible.” He paused for a moment. “You don’t seem as overwhelmed as I expected.”

I shrugged, even though he couldn’t see it. “There was a girl in my class who could do the same thing.”

“Oh,” he said, sounding disappointed.

“It’s a very nice trick,” I said, forgetting I should have hated him. Not seeing him, it felt like talking with one of my younger cousins.

“Don’t patronize me,” he said, dejectedly. “Stay quiet; orcs aren’t much to look at, but their hearing’s damn good.”

We padded out into the village in time to see a weary Zhang delivering a goblet of water to his slavedriver. He got an angry shout as payment, before bowing piteously and shuffling back into his quarters.

“Did you know him?” whispered Virgil.

“He was the captain of the ship I was on,” I said. “I can’t believe he’s so calm about it. He was always fighting us any time we disagreed with him.”

“They get the same mask treatment the people of Haven do,” he replied. “The Master has different games he plays with different toys.”

“The Master? Who’s that?”

“I literally can’t say,” he said. “He got me with a curse brand; hurts like Hell if I call him by name.”

“That’s a heck of an ego trip,” I said. “That must be awful for you.”

His arm shifted, making me think he had shrugged. “Eh, it’s not like his name is that special anyway. I’m used to it. The Master’s been alone here for years. It’s made him a bit… eccentric. Now hush for a bit, I need to focus on my affinity.”

What I had thought was an orcish village turned out to be slave quarters; I could see a few humans doing petty errands for their slavedrivers. Most were strangers, but I thought I recognized Mail from the Sipadan.

“How many are there?” I whispered. There were enough houses for hundreds.

“Depends on how hard the Master pushes them, and how long since the last shipwreck,” said Virgil.

“That’s awful!”

“Hush,” he hissed. “Or else you’ll join them.”

I shuddered at the thought. “I’ve been there and done that.”

The living quarters opened up into fields of crops, looking like the gardens that ringed Haven on a grander scale. Just past them were concrete military barracks that reminded me of Fort Flamel. They had seen better days, though, being covered in graffiti and climbing vines.

“The humans who built this island up left those for us. That’s where they keep the orcs and the other livestock,” said Virgil.

“Livestock?”

“Have you ever smelled an orc?” he quipped.

“No, and God willing, I won’t.” He winced at the g-word, I noticed. I almost felt bad for him. “Are there a lot of orcs?”

“Nope. The Master didn’t think to bring any orcmaids with him when he escaped the mainland,” he replied. “It’s why he’s started using human labor.”

That’s some relief, then. Past the barracks were wharves full of small boats. They were the same mix of locally made and modern I’d become used to in Haven.

In fact… “Wait, are those from our side of the island?”

“You’re as insightful as you are lovely,” he said.

I was glad he couldn’t see my eyeroll. Definitely like Soren. “Is this where the men go when they disappear for days at a time? I thought they were out fishing for the village.”

“They aren’t lying,” said Virgil. “They aren’t only fishing for Haven, though. There’s a lot of mouths to feed on the west side of the island, after all. Now really, be quiet. We’re about to get to the Master’s home, and Our Father Below knows where he might be.”

At the edge of the beach, where the ground was still solid, sat a chaotic mishmash of a building. The structure looked like it had once been a lookout post that had been added to over the years without a hint of forethought. Metallic shipping containers, stone, wood: if the Master could lay his hands on it, it had made its way into his home. A wooden fence ringed the perimeter. A pair of orcs stood at the ready, wielding poleaxes at either side of the entrance.

“I almost pity them, having to stand there all night,” I whispered.

“You are magnanimous as you are beautiful, but orcs can see just fine in the dark,” Virgil whispered back. “Don’t waste your sympathy on them. They’d have none for you, which is why you should be quiet!”

He could admonish me all he wanted, but I wasn’t going to let a chance to get some answers slip through my fingers.

The highest point of the Master’s home was a tower at the center of the sprawling structure, which was topped by something that looked like a large satellite dish, only made of wood. A shorter form, a grey-skinned goblin, stood on guard next to it.

“What’s that?” I asked, pointing before I remembered that my hand was transparent. “On the roof, I mean.”

“Oh, that? It’s something the Master salvaged ages ago,” he replied. “Some magical artifact or another.”

“Salvaged?” I struggled to think back to the Sipadan’s bridge. If my eyes didn’t fool me, that was… “The target!”

My voice carried further than I’d meant, and Virgil’s hand covered my mouth again. The orcs snapped upright and clutched their polearms tighter as they scanned the area. After a long, tense moment, they relaxed and went back to disinterestedly scanning the compound.

“What did I say?” he hissed.

“Mmph,” I replied. Once he removed his hand, I tried again. “Sorry, but that thing up there is what brought me here. We were sent to bring it home.”

“Then I’m grateful to whatever humans mislaid it,” he said.

I’m glad he couldn’t see my annoyance; I needed to keep him happy for the time being, at least. “What is it for?”

“What, didn’t your commanders tell you?”

“They weren’t sure,” I said. “The records had been lost.”

“That is what ensures a steady supply of warm bodies for Haven and the work camps,” he said. “Remember how your ship seemed to flop over? If you can build up enough of a charge, you can push or pull anything you can draw a bead on. The Master has taken to calling it the Tractor Beam, after something in a science fiction novel.”

I mulled over his words, something horrible occurring to me. “Did you grab a plane recently? It would have been about two months ago, maybe three now.”

“I can’t say,” he replied. “The Master forces me to keep it charged at all hours of the day and night, but he’ll be damned if he actually lets me use it. I’m the night watch, and I usually wake up to find we have more servants.”

Servants? It reminded me that he was still part of the force that kept the Sipadan’s crew and Haven under its thumb. “That’s good for you,” I growled. The whole Spratly Islands Curse suddenly made much more sense. The tractor beam fabricata almost certainly brought down Albert’s plane. “That means you didn’t kill my brother.”

“That is a relief,” he said, nervously.

One of the orcs trained his eyes on where we stood. “I think he hears us.”

“Then let’s not tarry here,” he said, gently nudging me back towards the village.

I was silent as we made our way back towards the jungle, and not only because of Virgil’s warning.

“We should be safe now,” he declared as we arrived at the rocky hill where we’d fought.

“We were probably safe a while back,” I said.

“Probably, but it gave us a chance to be closer,” Virgil replied, releasing my hand. “I’ll never wash it again.”

I couldn’t keep the disgust off of my face. “What makes you think I’d like that sort of talk?”

His face lost some of its bright red color. “W-well, I… you don’t? Really? I thought I was being charming.”

“You weren’t,” I replied. “It’s creepy, is what it is.”

“My apologies,” he said as I turned away. “Where are you going, my dear?”

“Back to the village,” I said, through a yawn. “The sun’s about to come up, and I’m going to have to do my chores tomorrow.”

“Really? Why?”

“I can’t let Ozzie know I’ve broken his spell,” I said. “I only snapped out of it because you shocked me. Metaphorically and literally.”

“I’m glad to be of assistance. When will I see you again?” he asked, a hopeful note in his voice. “I mean, I know when I’ll see you again, but when will we talk again?”

“Soon enough, but I want you to stop following me around.”

“You’re going into a den of vipers and you don’t want backup?”

I froze. “If I’m in trouble, will you actually help?”

“If I can do it without exposing myself,” he replied. “I can’t be spotted by the villagers, or there’ll be Hell to pay.”

“What’s in it for you?” I asked, walking back to his side. “You said your creed wasn’t to help others without a reward.”

“Just being in your presence is… no, wait, I’m sorry. You said not to flirt with you. I’ll be frank, then: who else do I have to talk to? The other humans are all mind-controlled chattel, the orcs and goblins aren’t sterling conversationalists, and the Master says I’m to be seen and not heard.”

I felt a twinge of sympathy for Virgil. “How long have you lived here?”

“I’m honestly not sure,” he said. “I was brought along with the Master before I can remember, and it’s not like one day is different than the others around here. Honestly, you’re the first interesting thing to happen to me in… ever, perhaps?” He took a halting step forward, before stopping. “Please, tell me I’ll have another chance to speak with you again?”

My heart melted, as much as I didn’t want it to. He was a devil, but Virgil seemed too pathetic to distrust. I’d heard of the pride of devils, and how piss-poor they were at infiltrating human society, even as spies. I couldn’t see one debasing himself like that if he didn’t mean it.

“Alright, Virgil. How about tomorrow night, at the rocky hill?”

His eyes lit up like a child on Christmas morning. “I’ll count the moments until I can gaze upon your… I mean, I look forward to it.”

I stopped again, brought up short by the delight written on his face. “Virgil, you know I’m going to escape here, right?”

He frowned. “I can’t say that I blame you for trying. The Dark Lord knows I’ve thought about it. I’ll miss you, though.”

Yes, the most thoughtful man I’ve met in weeks was a devil. What a ridiculous situation. “Good night, Virgil.”

“Good night!”