New Novel
Chapter 27: Interrogation With Teeth

Chapter 27: Interrogation With Teeth

The center of the ruined avenue had collapsed long ago.

What remained of the road ran along either side of a broad trench, its sloping walls formed from fractured paving stones and layers of exposed earth. The centipede-like Abomination thrashed at the bottom, eight feet beneath where Rook and Mara stood.

The restraint would not hold forever.

Something blue moved above them.

Mara looked up and saw a lantern crossing the rooftops on the opposite side of the avenue.

The person carrying it kept low, hurrying along the broken edge of a building while watching the trapped Abomination below. A dark coat concealed most of his body, and a pale scarf covered the lower half of his face. Another lantern hung from a hook at his waist, leaving both hands free to collect and reposition the lights along the rooftops.

He had expected the creature to handle them.

Now he was escaping before Rook discovered who had arranged the trap.

"There!" Mara pointed toward the roof. "Above us!"

The Reaper looked down.

The moment he realized he had been seen, he ran.

Rook released the line he had been using to reinforce the thread around the nearby pillar. The Abomination immediately gained several inches of movement inside the trench. One hooked limb tore free, struck the sloping wall and sent fragments of stone scattering across the bottom.

Most of the grave-thread remained secured between the pillar and the collapsed archway, keeping the creature trapped. It would simply break sooner without Rook maintaining the additional tension.

He reached into the coffin with his working hand and pulled out a second length of thread. An iron hook had already been tied to one end.

The scout reached the edge of the rooftop and leapt toward the next building.

Rook swung the hook once and threw it.

It crossed the avenue above the trench, passed beneath the airborne Reaper and caught around his ankle. The curved point twisted beneath the straps of his boot.

The grave-thread snapped taut.

The Reaper’s body suddenly became nearly weightless.

Rook felt the change through the cord. The resistance against his arm diminished until the man seemed to weigh little more than the coat surrounding him.

Rather than falling, the Reaper drifted across the gap between the buildings. He stretched both arms toward the opposite ledge, moving slowly enough that he might catch it and cut himself free.

"Died falling?" Rook muttered.

The man’s fingers almost reached the stone.

Rook pulled.

Weightless did not mean beyond reach.

The grave-thread tore the Reaper away from the building. His body crossed the avenue in a wide arc, passing above the trapped creature while his arms flailed for something to grasp.

The Abomination reacted to the movement overhead.

Its vertical mouth opened, and several overlapping jaws snapped upward. They missed the Reaper by several feet as the thread carried him beyond the trench.

He struck the raised section of road beside Mara, rolled twice and lost his grip upon the lantern.

Its metal frame bounced across the paving stones. The blue flame continued burning inside it, casting spinning light over the surrounding ruins.

The Reaper recovered immediately. Whatever ability had removed his weight had also spared him most of the impact. He twisted onto one knee, saw Mara standing nearby and lunged with both hands extended toward her.

Rook pulled the grave-thread again.

The hook tightened around the man’s ankle and tore his leg backward. He fell short of Mara, though his fingers caught the front of her coat and dragged her down with him.

Rook twisted his branded wrist.

The pale chain connecting him to Mara snapped taut.

She was wrenched out of the Reaper’s grasp and stumbled directly into Rook’s waiting arm. He caught her around the waist and placed himself between them.

"Don’t let him touch you."

Rook pushed Mara behind him, shortened his grip upon the grave-thread and dragged the Reaper across the road.

The man rolled onto his back and reached for Rook’s arm. His fingers became pale, and the air around them seemed to distort as his ability gathered.

Rook kept outside his reach.

He hauled the man close enough to meet his boot.

Rook’s heel struck the bridge of the Reaper’s nose. Bone collapsed beneath the impact, snapping the man’s head backward against the road. His body went limp.

The ability disappeared with his consciousness.

His full weight returned at once. The sudden burden nearly tore the thread from Rook’s hand, but he wrapped it around his forearm and held firm.

Behind them, the Abomination pulled against its restraints.

The pillar anchoring one side of the trap groaned.

Mara regained her balance and looked at the unconscious Reaper. "What is his ability?"

"He makes things he touches lighter."

Rook dragged the man farther from the trench before kneeling beside him. His poisoned arm remained useless against his side, forcing him to work entirely with the other.

Mara kept her attention upon the trapped creature. "How does making something lighter allow him to Cull?"

"He makes an Abomination light enough to throw into the air. Then he restores its weight while it’s falling."

She looked toward the immense darkness above the city. "That sounds powerful."

"Until he tries lifting something too heavy and the cost crushes him instead."

Another hooked leg tore free from the web of grave-thread. It scraped along the bottom of the trench, searching for enough purchase to drag the rest of the creature forward.

Rook searched the scout’s coat.

He found two knives, a pouch filled with bone dust and a narrow red tube sealed at one end. He examined the tube briefly.

"A flare," he said. "Could be useful."

There was no map and nothing marking a safe route through the city.

Rook removed the scout’s belt and used it to bind his wrists behind his back. He then pulled the hook from the man’s boot and wrapped the second length of grave-thread around both ankles.

The cord connecting the captive to Rook remained entirely separate from the web restraining the Abomination.

Mara watched him test the bindings. "Is he supposed to be our guide?"

"If he answers correctly."

"And if he doesn’t?"

Rook looked toward the trench.

The Abomination’s jaws closed around empty air.

Together, they dragged the unconscious scout toward the edge.

The road descended into the trench along a steep slope of broken paving stones. Rook stopped several paces from the drop and lowered the captive onto the incline. The man’s feet remained nearest to Rook, while his head pointed down toward the creature.

Rook kept the grave-thread wrapped around his working hand.

If he loosened his grip, the scout would go down the slope.

If he pulled, the cord would drag him back up.

The centipede noticed him immediately.

Its body surged forward, tightening every remaining strand of the first trap. Hooked limbs tore into the bottom of the trench as it stretched its neck toward the slope. Its vertical mouth opened beneath the captive, the overlapping jaws reaching within a foot of his face before the grave-thread stopped it.

Rook allowed the scout to slide several inches closer.

The jaws snapped shut.

Warm breath passed over the unconscious man’s scarf.

Mara remained behind Rook, close enough to reach him without standing between the captive and the creature. From there, she could see the entire arrangement: the Abomination at the bottom of the trench, the scout lying headfirst along its sloping edge and Rook above them controlling the distance with one hand.

"That doesn’t look secure," she said.

"It isn’t supposed to be."

One strand restraining the Abomination broke.

The sound was quiet, yet both of them heard it.

The creature heaved against the remaining web. The pillar anchoring the left side shifted another inch toward the trench.

Mara looked at Rook. "You said we had a minute."

"We used some of it."

"How much is left?"

Rook watched another strand begin cutting through itself where it crossed the creature’s hooked limb. "Enough."

"That is not a measurement."

"It’s the one we have."

Rook nudged the scout’s boot.

The man groaned but did not wake.

Rook kicked him harder.

His eyes opened.

For several dazed moments, the Reaper stared at the broken stones beneath his face. He tried lifting his head, but his bound hands prevented him from pushing himself upright.

Then something breathed beneath him.

The Reaper slowly looked down the slope.

The Abomination opened its vertical mouth.

Several hooked jaws unfolded toward him, their sharpened points scraping together. One caught the edge of his scarf and tore it from his face.

Panic erased the remaining confusion from the man’s expression. His body began losing weight as he activated his ability.

Rook lifted the cord slightly.

The captive’s nearly weightless body rose from the stones with embarrassing ease.

"Don’t," Rook said. "You’ll only make it easier for me to throw you down there."

The Reaper immediately allowed his weight to return.

"You fucking bastard."

"Who moved the lanterns?"

"Fuck you."

Rook loosened his grip.

The captive slid headfirst toward the bottom of the trench.

He twisted desperately, but his bound hands and legs could find no purchase upon the broken stones. The Abomination lunged upward to meet him.

Rook pulled at the final moment.

The grave-thread around the man’s ankles tightened, stopping his descent. The creature’s jaws closed where his head had been, catching several strands of hair and tearing them free.

The scout screamed.

"Several of us!" he shouted. "Half the eastern watch! You think I moved all of them?"

Another strand of the Abomination’s restraint snapped.

Its left front limb came free. The hooked point struck the slope beside the captive and punched deep into the fractured road. Pieces of stone sprayed across his face.

The limb remained extended directly over him, scraping against the ground as it searched for his body.

Mara watched the remaining restraints. "Rook."

He kept his attention upon the scout. "Who ordered you?"

"The boss’s right hand."

"Who runs Eighty-Six now?"

The Reaper hesitated.

Rook relaxed his grip.

The captive slid another foot toward the waiting mouth.

"Wait!"

Rook stopped the cord.

"Name."

The Abomination dragged itself closer. Its vertical mouth spread until the plates surrounding it scraped along the bottom of the trench. The captive kicked uselessly against the incline, sending loose stones tumbling between its jaws.

"Voss!"

Rook’s grip tightened.

He pulled the man several feet up the slope, placing more distance between him and the creature.

Mara saw recognition enter Rook’s expression. It was not surprise. The name appeared to confirm something he had already suspected might be waiting within the ruins.

"You know him?"

Another section of grave-thread tore apart.

The Abomination freed a second limb and drove it toward the scout. Rook dragged him sideways before the hooked point struck. It buried itself in the slope where his chest had been.

"Unfortunately," Rook said.

The scout stared up at him, blood running from the stones embedded in his cheek. "Voss said you wouldn’t leave this time."

Rook looked toward the distant lanterns.

"He said that last time too."