Inferno Read online

  Anger boiled up inside me. What! Remain quiet? He brought me all the way here and expects me to just sit in the corner? Clenching my fists, I forced my temper down. Fine, whatever. If he wanted me to just sit in the corner and do nothing, I would. Because I would not be engaging in any other activities.

  AT SOME POINT, THE god had disappeared somewhere back behind his piles of junk. I wasn’t really paying much attention to the man. He’d annoyed me as bad as everyone else back at the Haywood’s home. I hoped they hadn’t been affected by my accident too badly.

  Leaning on my arms, I watched black flakes fall onto the balcony. Something had exploded earlier. I didn’t know what, but it had made a ton of ash. The piles covering the railing were getting so high that the ash was sliding off.

  With a sigh, I adjusted the dirty coat. It would be really nice to clean up a bit. But Zoran would just yell at me for bugging him if I brought it up. I laid down and peered up at the ceiling. Designs were carved into the stone. The garden was incredible. Too bad such a horrible man lived here. It would be more pleasant without Zoran.

  A shadow passed over me before the god’s face appeared above. He arched a brow. “What are you doing?”

  “Nothing,” I said with a shrug.

  “Good.”

  A broom formed from a cloud of smoke, and he dropped it next to me.

  Sitting up, I looked from the broom to him. “What am I supposed to do with that?”

  Zoran gave me an unimpressed expression. “Guess.”

  Clenching my jaw, I stood. “I’m not your housekeeper.”

  “No, you’re a firebird that refuses to do its one intended purpose.” The broom slapped into his extended hand. “Living here involves chores.” He shoved the handle into my chest. “Get to work.” A scroll appeared in his hand, and Zoran wandered off back into the maze. “Just throw it over the railing.”

  I internally screamed. What did he take me for?! I didn’t owe him anything. If he wanted someone to sweep his damn balcony, then he could get the fire sirens. They weren’t doing anything right now. I tossed the broom at the fireplace and sat down, folding my arms.

  “Going hungry is your alternative.”

  I screamed in frustration and snatched the broom off the ground. It wasn’t like the food here was very good, but being hungry on top of freezing all night on the floor sounded awful. I went outside and swung the broom at the railing to knock the piles into the garden. This was so infuriating.

  Sweeping the ash into a pile, I used my hands to throw it over. There had to be an easier way of doing this. Scanning the area, I didn’t see any of the sirens or dragons around. Zoran only came out of his hole to eat. Taking off the coat, I laid it in the small cleared area and started sweeping it into the middle.

  Once I had a pretty good load, I gathered up the corners of the jacket and dumped the ash into the garden. Shaking out the coat, I looked over the edge and watched the specks filtering down to the already covered ground. More was still falling, but it wasn’t as bad as the morning. With a sigh, I scanned the balcony. This wasn’t possible. It would take me days to finish. I should just quit.

  I glared at the ground and slowly raised my head. That was probably what Zoran wanted. I smiled to myself. I was going to enjoy proving him wrong. I’d clean this damn balcony and show him I could be useful in other ways.

  MY ARMS WERE STARTING to get tired, and my back was aching from being hunched over. For trying to prove I wasn’t a pathetic firebird, I was feeling rather pathetic. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw the cleared section. Facing forward, I frowned at the mounds of ash that still covered the balcony. I was ready to call it quits for the day. Gathering up the corners, I took the coat to the railing and dumped another load.

  Someone cleared their throat.

  I spun around and held the soot-covered coat to my crotch. “Zoran, I didn’t hear you.”

  “I’ve been standing here for a while.”

  “Oh.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Look,” I waved my arm to the side. “It looks really nice, right?”

  “Hmm...” His eyes flicked to the side. “Kept you busy.” He held out his hand.

  Stepping forward, I passed him the broom. “What do you mean?”

  Zoran pulled me to the side. “Uther.”

  The dragon flew down from a ledge above and started to flap his wings. The ash flew into the air and blew out into the garden. My mouth dropped open. What? I had been sweeping all day when Uther could have done it in ten minutes? Scowling at my feet, I inched away from him. This man was worse than I’d thought.

  With his arms folded, Zoran watched as the dragon worked his way down the balcony. I couldn’t believe he had done that. I was so mad. I marched into the bedroom and put on the filthy coat. Sitting in the corner, I faced the wall.

  Zoran entered and went to the table. He didn’t even acknowledge me. I had done all that work and he wasn’t even going to say anything about it.

  Rhoda carried in dinner soon after. Her eyes grew wide when she saw me. “What in the world have you been doing?” She turned into her small light form and zipped away, returning soon after with a wet towel. “You’re filthy, Fin.”

  “Playing in the ash,” said Zoran as he took the lid off his tray.

  Today’s creature was dripping bright blue blood. I should have just gone hungry, because that looked disgusting.

  “I was not playing,” I muttered, wiping off my arms. “He made me sweep.”

  Rhode faced the god. “One of the worst eruptions we’ve had in awhile, and you made the poor thing sweep. That is awfully rude, Zoran.” She hurried over to fill his glass.

  “It kept him busy,” replied the god. “I don’t need him wandering about.”

  “There are other jobs,” Rhoda replied.

  “He refuses to do them.” He took a drink.

  The siren sighed. “Difficult as always.” She came back to me. “Zoran can be petty at times, so don’t hold it against him.”

  “Rhoda.”

  The siren rose up on her wings and faced the god.

  “You can go.”

  With a slight bow, she zipped out of the room. I continued to clean myself off as Zoran ate. Petty was an understatement. This man was simply cruel.

  Chapter 19: An Errand

  Huddled against the wall, I was tired and sore from spending another night sleeping on the ground. It had been two weeks of doing nothing but being ordered to go sit in the corner and not touch anything, so my body was feeling the effects. Zoran was wandering about, shuffling through papers. I folded my arms and laid my head on my knees. What a boring life. All he did was look at his stupid scrolls. At least he hadn’t tried to touch me since the first day. He hadn’t done much of anything, really. I was still only wearing the coat and had some patches of black ash staining my skin.

  Rhoda entered and placed a tray on the table. “Zoran?”

  He dismissed her with a wave of his hand.

  The siren shook her head before looking down at me. “Are you hungry?”

  I pulled my knees to my chest. “No, thanks.” Last night’s meal of some kind of green furry creature had killed my appetite.

  “Zoran,” she called, “what are you going to do with him? The poor thing looks miserable.”

  “Nothing,” he said plainly. “As of yet. But I’ve been too busy to deal with him.”

  Rhoda removed the lid from the platter. She took a piece of bread with red flakes sprinkled inside it and offered it to me. “You’ll like it. I promise.”

  I took it from her and nibbled a bit of it. She was right. It tasted pretty good, and I could feel its warmth travel down my throat before settling in my chest.

  “You can go,” muttered Zoran, bracing himself against a desk spilling over with scrolls that were nestled between some wooden boxes.

  Rhoda patted the top of my head, and with a pop, her ball of light flew outside. That little bit of food had ignited a wave of hunger. I crawled into a seat at the
table and took more of the bread. For the first time, I actually liked what Rhoda had brought, and I wasn’t going to give Zoran a chance to eat it all.

  Zoran glanced over at me. “I have a chore for you.”

  “What?” I braced myself for the worst after the whole balcony sweeping fiasco.

  I stuffed another slice of bread in my mouth. Rhoda was right, this was excellent.

  He grabbed a list from the pile on his desk. “I think they’ve recovered by now.”

  Dropping it on the table, he stood behind me and leaned in close to my ear. I hunched over to get away from him.

  “Go to Hobbs and gather these things for me. He should have them ready, but I added a couple more.” His hand landed on my shoulder. “I’ll give you a reward when you get back if you do it properly.” He twirled a strand of hair around his finger.

  I sunk down into my chair. “I don’t want to go back there.”

  “I don’t care.” He grabbed a handful and pulled me up. “Sit up straight.”

  “Aw!” I pushed him away, my skull throbbing. “I’m not going back there. They’ll kill me.”

  Zoran laughed. “We’ve gone over this. That’s not possible.” His hand wrapped around my neck. He lifted my head, so our eyes met. “You will go, or I’ll show you how I punish the dragons, but I’ll use you, instead.”

  Nodding, I took in a shaky breath. “I’ll go.”

  “Good.” He shoved my head forward. “Uther will take you, and I would advise you not to linger. Don’t give Lockhart time to think of a plan. I have work to do, and I will not be bothered to save you again.” He wandered off into his room and disappeared behind the stacks of junk.

  I picked at the tattered coat I was wearing. I might as well go to Gail naked. “Can you give me something decent to wear at least?”

  There was a loud bang, and clothes sat folded on the table, along with a shoulder bag.

  “Uther is waiting,” he yelled.

  I dropped the coat on the ground. Pulling on the black pants, I did them up and tugged on the white button-up shirt. Picking up the red and black coat, I ran my hands over the thick leather-like material.

  The room shook when Uther landed on the balcony. I put the coat on and did up the two buttons on the front. Grabbing a couple more pieces of bread, I stuffed them in the bag and hurried to meet the beast. Uther blasted me with a puff of smoke the moment I stepped outside. He lowered his head as I glared at him, waving my hand to clear the air.

  I grabbed onto the dragon’s horn and started to climb up. Uther flicked his head and threw me in the air. I landed hard on his back and clung to his scales so I didn’t slide off.

  “Horrible beast,” I breathed, positioning myself and taking a deep breath. “Okay, I’m ready.”

  Uther took off. My scream followed us through the garden and the mountain tunnel. I was going to die or blow up. Either way, this dragon was doing this on purpose. We emerged on the other side, and he flew straight up. I laid flat on his back and closed my eyes as the air rushed by. I hated this creature! I hated him!

  Uther leveled out and glided above the ravine. With each beat of his wings, we flew closer to Gail. Half the town was black. This was a horrible idea. They were going to kill me, or they’d try to, at least.

  I leaned down. “Uther,” I yelled, “land over there. Away from the town.”

  The dragon dove and proceeded to spew fire as we whooshed over the town. Women and children screamed. The men herded them into the nearest home.

  “Stupid beast!” I pounded my fist on Uther’s back. “Stop it!”

  I swore the monster laughed and dove at the town again, causing more panic.

  “Knock it off!” I snapped. “Just land. You’ve done enough.”

  Uther circled around to the junction and landed in the clearing. The miners scattered and hid behind their wagons. The dragon snarled at them as his nostrils bellowed smoke.

  I slid down and shoved the beast’s head. “Way to go, idiot.”

  He snapped at me and I fell backward into the dirt. I glared at the dragon. He just laid down and rolled to his side.

  “Stupid reptile.” I stood and dusted myself off.

  His tail flicked around and knocked me down.

  “Uther!” I yelled from the dirt. I climbed to my feet. “Overgrown lizard.”

  He swiped at me again, but this time, I dodged it and hurried out of his reach. I understood why Zoran and Uther got along so well. They were both horrid creatures.

  Fixing the bag over my shoulder, I looked around. The men were clinging to their pickaxes as I passed, but they didn’t attack. I picked up the pace and entered the town. All the doors and shutters were closed. The remains of a fire sat in the courtyard. They must have killed another shapeshifter recently. Lockhart marched outside.

  The governor folded his arms. “What do you want?”

  I forced an uneasy smile. “Zoran just needs a few things.”

  He narrowed his eyes at me. “Then get them, and get out. You’re not welcome here.”

  I nodded. “Of course. I’ll hurry.” I backed away. “Sorry.”

  I jogged down the street towards Hobbs. The shop looked the same, though buildings on either side had fire damage.

  I poked my head inside. “Hobbs? It’s me, Fin.”

  Something fell in the backroom. A few moments later, Hobbs emerged. “Zoran said he would be sending you today.” He dipped behind the counter and lifted up a basket of different packages. “I’d rather it be you than him that comes to my shop. A frustrated god is a hard customer.” He held out his hand.

  I placed my bag on the counter.

  “He mentioned a list. I need to go over it to make sure I have everything.”

  Panic caused my face to turn white. “Oh, no.” I ripped open my bag and dug around. I checked all my pockets, but the image of it sitting on the table was engraved in my head. “I think I misplaced it.” I bit my lip and glanced at the old man. “Do you remember what he needed?”

  “Hmmm....” Hobbs shook his head. “I think I remember everything. For your sake, let’s hope so.” He placed the packages in the bag and pushed it back to me.

  “If he’s mad about it, I’ll come back. No problem, right?” I laughed lightly.

  Hobbs’ face didn’t change. “Never anger a god, Fin. It won’t end well.”

  “Right,” I breathed, looping the strap over my head. “Thanks.”

  I quickly left and started back to the junction. I felt sick. The last time I had sort of angered him, Zoran had thrown me off a cliff. I was destruction-proof, though. So there really wasn’t anything this man could do to me. I’d just blow up, and he’d be the one in trouble.

  The more I thought about it, the taller I stood. There was nothing to be worried about. I walked down the embankment and clambered into Uther’s back. Zoran might be upset I forgot one or two things, but if he punished me for it, I’d blow up in his face. What better way to test out if it was possible to kill a god.

  Chapter 20: The Frost

  I slid off Uther’s back and was knocked to the ground when the beast smacked me with his wing. The dragon didn’t give me a second glance as he took flight, heading for the mountain tunnel.

  “Stupid lizard,” I muttered, rising to my knees.

  “Where are my things?”

  I jumped. “Zoran,” I breathed. “I didn’t hear you.”

  The god reached down and took the bag before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

  “And that’s why I didn’t hear him,” I whispered, peering off into the garden annoyed. I hated living here. If he was just going to ignore me all day, he should just let me leave. There had to be another volcano I could live in out there somewhere.

  I stood and brushed off my clothes. My hand brushed against my coat pocket. “The list.” I hurried to a pillar and stuck my head through the curtains. Zoran was lost amongst all of his things. I slipped inside and headed straight for the table. The top was clear. I dropped to my
knees to look for the piece of paper on the floor. “Where did it—”

  “Fin.” The table shook as Zoran sat down above my head.

  My breath caught as I saw his feet swinging right in front of me. This disappearing, reappearing act of his was very inconvenient.

  I crawled out and sat on my heels below him. “Hi.”

  “What are you looking for?” He opened the bag I brought him and started lining up the packages.

  “Nothing,” I whispered. “Nothing at all.”

  “Are you sure?” He placed the last object on the table. “You seemed very intent on finding something.”

  I shook my head and stood. “No. I just dropped something.”

  “Dropped something?” His eyes flashed in my direction for a moment before he examined the line of items wrapped in brown paper. “So which excuse are you going to choose?”

  Backing up to the fireplace, I shrugged. “I’m not making up excuses.”

  Zoran laughed and pressed a finger to his lips. “You really are a stupid sparrow.”

  A blast of fire sent me flying into the hearth. My back slammed into the stone wall before I slid down into a pile of soot. It knocked the air out of me. Clutching my chest, I forced the air back into my lungs in big gasps.

  Zoran tilted his head to the side. “What a filthy little bird. I’ll have to clean you up.”

  Wind rushed around the room. I protected my face as papers were sucked into the whirlwind. The edges sliced into my skin with an accuracy that shouldn’t have been possible.

  “Stop it!” I wished I would just blow up and send him flying into the air. “Please, stop!”

  The wind shot up through the fireplace, and the papers fluttered to the ground. I touched a cut on my cheek. My hand came back with traces of blood.

  Zoran was leaning over his knees, holding a single sheet of parchment. “I’ve read through this three times, and two things are missing.” The list disappeared in a puff of smoke. “Let’s hope you just dropped them. Right, Fin? That’s what you were looking for, correct?”