Gray couldn’t see very well if he strayed too far from either Rynn or Ames, since it was their swords that were giving them light. Without the stars or the moon, the night was like oil, since there was no natural lighting.

  In the distance, they heard something slide and break—it sounded like either a roof tile or a piece of pottery shattering into a thousand pieces. A blast of freezing wind brought the stink of something that smelled surprising fishy.

  For a second, Gray was taken back to his childhood, when Old Agatha had sent him to the market to get the leftover inventory that the fish monger hadn’t been able to sell. After Old Agatha fried the questionable meat, the taste was better, though the danger was real. On a few occasions, they’d all spent the night taking turns going to latrines because the meat had spoiled.

  He couldn’t help but get mad. Children shouldn’t have to gamble on the quality of their food. And there shouldn’t be demons in the world, but there were. He lived among them.

  Rynn frowned. “This is a bad idea. We’re the only light source in all of Old Town. We might as well be screaming, and if the demons don’t get us, a random kill squad might come out to investigate.”

  “No,” Ames said. “The kill squads don’t go into Old Town after night. It’s too dangerous.”

  “My point exactly,” Rynn said with a sigh.

  Gray had tied a rope around his stick, so he could carry it slung over his shoulder. In his hand was his own sword, not a bloodless blade, just a length of sharpened steel. “Let’s go see where that noise came from. Then we’ll run back to the hole and get out of here. We just need a demon…any kind of mana will do.”

  They passed by mausoleum after mausoleum, the shadows thick and impenetrable. A few of the graves had been dug up—how long ago, it was impossible to tell, but it further set him on edge. Maybe there were more than just demons there in Old Town. Maybe there were specters, impossible to fight. He’d heard rumors of manamancers with cores so powerful that they continued to absorb mana even after death, which gave them a kind of impossible undeath. He’d thought they were just your typical ghost stories until he was in a graveyard, near the mouth of hell, in the dark and the rain.

  Another something—either pottery or ceiling tile hit the ground and exploded. The noise echoed through the night.

  Rynn marched forward. “Stay behind me. I might not be as good a fighter as I thought, but I can still swing a sword.”

  Gray knew she wasn’t getting mana, not with what she was saying. She’s lost her confidence. There was nothing he could say or do to help her, and he hated that. If they lost at Chaotica, it wasn’t the end of the world. But losing at their hunt just might kill them.

  Rynn raised her sword. To their right, pushed up against the Gluttony Town’s section of the Hellbinder was a vast temple of some kind. It was like the one he and Ames had tried to run into when the sloth dogs had attacked them when they’d gone to the Weeping Well.

  The columns lay in fragments in front of the steps. But ceiling did have tiles—had they been falling?

  No, something inside crashed, something moved, and that foul fish smell was coming from inside.

  Rynn turned to him. “Something is in there. But it’s not coming out. Why do I think that’s even worse than it attacking us?”

  Ames pushed past them. “The fish can’t fly, but it’s not a fish. It’s calamari. We have to get one, quickly, before the ice bitch comes. If we hurry, there won’t be an issue.”

  “Wait, Ames!” Gray called out and then cursed himself. They were there in secret.

  It was too late anyway. She moved around a fallen column and into the temple itself. Unlike the ruins they’d been in before, this one had a ceiling and once might have had displays and statues and finery. But now, it was just rows of columns, some standing tall, others little more than a pile of rocks. There was lettering along the wall, but it had been wiped smooth with time.

  The smell was even worse inside the temple. In middle of the floor were stairs leading down into complete darkness. The last thing he wanted was to see what was below the temple floor. What kind of temple was it? It seemed odd to put a religious monument in the middle of a cemetery when there was no god of death. Was there an instinct for death? Maybe that was the eighth instinct…life and death instead of hope and despair.

  Something flashed by in the darkness, upsetting a pot that was balanced on a pedestal. A second later, the pot fell, shattering on the stone floor.

  Ames picked up a piece a hurled it something else that flittered from column to column. Her aim was true, and it hit the creature, who screamed. The shriek was oddly quiet but no less unsettling.

  Other creatures joined in the shrieking—the sounds coming from the entrance.

  Gray turned, and in the dim light of Rynn’s sword, he saw the demons for the first time. He’d grown up eating squid, and these were squid, only they were the size of sea cows with long tentacles. One by one, the things opened their eyes, which glowed an unnerving yellow, bright with mana. They clasped the columns, but with the way they moved, it was easy to see that they had some limited ability to fly, or maybe it could’ve been the strength of those tentacles and their natural agility.

  One hurried itself away from the column and caught hold of the ceiling and then went winging itself away. Two others followed it.

  Gray saw what they were doing—those squid were trying to surround them.

  “Out! Now!”

  But it was too late.

  The squid slid from the top of the columns to the bottom, blocking their way out.

  They were going to have to fight their way out.

  Rynn charged forward. “I’ll give us a way out, but you’ll need to help me, Gray!”

  He was right behind her, but Ames was still in the temple. They couldn’t leave without her. “Ames! We are leaving!”

  A squid launched itself off the column, and Rynn’s sword flashed, cutting it in half. She was covered in the thing’s foul-smelling blood, black like ichor, and smelling like rotting fish guts. She sputtered.

  Another went for her, but Gray got in front of her, and he hacked into the thing. But he didn’t have her same strength, and his sword got wedged into the thick flesh of the thing. Tenacles latched onto his arms, and one circled his throat.

  He would’ve been killed for sure if Ames hadn’t come and touched the thing. It squealed in pain. She drove her sword into the thing’s eye.

  “Get down!” Rynn barked.

  Gray pulled Ames down.

  A second later, Rynn vented her core. Squid were flung away from them. A couple were torn to pieces. They had their way out. But to leave now would mean they wouldn’t get what they’d come for.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  There were three dead squid—Gray only needed one of them. Only, it seemed he wasn’t going to get his chance. There were too many of the things, and the demons behind them were already throwing themselves down on top of them.

  Rynn, white-faced, lifted her sword. He found her core and channeled mana into it, but it was too late. They couldn’t run, not if they didn’t want the squid that had flanked to crush their throats.

  Rynn and Ames closed ranks, facing the back of the temple, while Gray whirled to face the front.

  Squid rained down on them, and he slashed, and hacked, aiming for the softer tentacles and not the thick skin of their bodies. All three of them were covered in muck, but they were only going to be able to fight for so long.

  Ames would paralyze one of the demons with her touch and kill another with a sweep of her sword.

  Rynn was using a combination of her mana blasts and her blade, but it wasn’t going to be good enough. And she knew it. “It’s not enough, Gray. We can’t fight them all. What are we going to do? Maybe if I were better—”

  “Not helping,” he barked. “Do it, Rynn. Vent your core. Again and again. I’ll keep you filled.”

  He’d done it three times in a row before, and that was when his core wasn’t able to absorb the mana. Now, he was so much more powerful.

  “Do it now!” He crouched. As did Ames.

  Rynn raised her sword and screamed. The squid were thrown off her, a few were killed, but they were right back on top of them, shrieking and shrieking and shrieking. Already the first few demons they killed had started to steam, their mana dispersing as their flesh melted. He just needed one. Dammit.

  Rynn vented her core again, which blasted the squid. Gray and Ames ran, but Rynn took two steps and fell.

  Gray went back for her, pulled her up, but a squid caught her around her throat. It wasn’t a second later when her face didn’t turn purple. She was making terrible, terrible sounds.

  Gray filled her core again, and again, she vented her core, but this time, Gray couldn’t get out of the way. The squid around her exploded showering them in blood and pieces of hard flesh and whatever else was inside that demon.

  Gray was flung into a column, and immediately, two squids wrapped him up, and he felt beaks dig into flesh—on hip and on his back, ripping into him, and it hurt, hurt like hell. The beaks hurt but the tendril around his throat was the real problem. He clawed at the awful, stinking, rubbery flesh.

  “Fucking idiots,” a voice hissed. “Everyone knows that sloth squids sleep all day and hunt all night.”

  Another sword flared to life, at the entrance, but it wasn’t on the ground—no, it was the air. And it came soaring down, slicing through the tentacle that was intent on ending Gray’s life.

  Pinch landed, slashed through the other squid, and then hurled her mana shuriken into the squid that were clinging to Ames and Rynn.

  They were all free, but Rynn could hardly move. Gray was too far away from her to give her mana.

  Pinch sprang forward and helped Rynn stand. Then, with the elf girl leaning on their enemy, they sped by Gray and Ames, who were on their feet, blocking more squid from coming. Well, Ames was doing most of the work, her meridians lit up with mana, which gave her such speed and strength.

  But they weren’t out of the woods yet.

  More of the sloth squids were springing toward them—from out of the temple as well as from other mausoleums.

  Gray had lost all hope that he’d get the mana from the squid. This whole run had been a complete disaster. And Pinch’s presence didn’t make him feel better. Yes, she had saved them, but what did that mean? How had she known about their little hunting expedition in the first place?

  They ran down the broad highway, down through the heart of the cemetery, heading for the exit with an army of sloth squid chasing them. Gray trailed Pinch and his friends, and so when he ran past an open crypt, the biggest squid they’d seen so far reached out a tentacle and snagged his arm, crushing it in steel-like tendrils. The pain was intense, and he was pulled into the darkness.

  Gray aimed for a glittering golden eye and drove his sword into the demon’s skull. This was his chance. His friends had come back and were forced into the crypt, their swords giving them light. Luckily, the corpses were sealed away in stone compartments. Otherwise, it was empty.

  Gray’s crushed arm was killing him, but it allowed him to channel mana into it. Dropping his sword, he took his stick and held it in his weak hand, wincing. He the slashed open his other hand on his sword. The pain made him dizzy, but yes, he could feel the mana racing down toward the wound.

  A million squids were around them blocking their way with a wall of tentacles and beaks.

  Pinch and Rynn kept them at bay, slashing through any of the arms that reached inside. The squid were all trying to wiggle inside the crypt all at the same time, which meant they were getting in each other’s way. A few began to snap and pull at each other.

  Gray could feel their need, their hunger, to get at their mana. They felt more like gluttony squid than sloth squid. There was nothing slothful about these things.

  Focusing on harvesting the mana felt impossible.

  “What in the fuck are you doing, boy?” Pinch snapped.

  “Give me a second,” he breathed.

  Ames knelt next to him.

  “Don’t heal me,” he hissed. He needed the blood and pain to do his work.

  In the glow of her sword, he could see the mana swirling inside the demon. It didn’t have a core, no. Its mana filled every bit of its terrible, nasty body, rubbery and stinking. But he could feel it. He sucked in a breath, concentrating, even as the wall of squid shrieked and shrieked.

  He was used to giving mana to his friends but never taking, and it felt like trying to breathe water. But the pain helped him. He drew in the mana, focusing on the pain in his hand, blood dripping onto the floor. Then, when the demon’s sloth mana was there, he then switched his focus to his crushed arm and the agony there. One he got the mana into that wound, then it felt easy to channel it into his stick. That damn stick. It had become his favorite thing in the world, and it was drawing in the sloth energy until there was no more room.

  He'd done it. He’d officially poached mana. If they were caught, it would mean death.

  Well, a Watchfire family execution would have to wait. They had to get through the squid first.

  Despite it being a serious crime, Gray felt proud of what he’d accomplished. He’d used his pain to poach, and he had what they’d come for. That pride filled his core with mana, and he channeled that directly into Rynn. She was filled to bursting in seconds.

  Gray staggered up, transferring his stick to his other hand, his blood painting the wood. He touched Pinch’s back with his other hand and felt her sweaty clothes, her strong muscles working. Her scent filled his nose. She was a pain in the ass, but she was also beautiful. The lust was easy to access, and he channeled that mana from his core into hers. It was easy to find the center of her magic— it was like she had a red sun inside of her. It gleamed with a shining scarlet light. The minute he touched it, though, he felt it reach out, hungrily, for him. Unlike with anyone else he’d ever connected to; it wasn’t like he was giving her the mana. It was more like she was taking it from him, filling herself up. He'd never experienced such a hungry core.

  Then he saw something, a fae woman, face gray, eyes dull. She and Pinch were on a dock, in the early morning, with a heavy rain falling. The ocean was rough from the storm, but they were going to have to get on the boat.

  Gray knew he was seeing Pinch and her mother, disgraced from something, having to flee the Thistle Mire for the Freckle Islands. To Pamalee Thornpinch, it was the end of her life forever. It would crush her. It would define her. Her core oath was all about that moment.

  Gray was then pulled back into the moment and none too soon. The squid had realized they had to work together to get at those humans and their precious mana.

  “What did you fucking do to me!” Pinch shrieked.

  He ignored her. “We’re getting out of here. Rynn, you’ll vent your core, I’ll give you more mana, and Pinch, fly out and throw shuriken. Then we sprint for the hole. If I trail behind, don’t come back for me.”

  “No, we—” Pinch started to snarl.

  Rynn cut her off with a scream and threw herself into the wall of squid. She was sucked into their center, and she disappeared for a second.

  Gray’s heart stopped. What was she doing? Was this suicide?

  A second later, he felt the blast of her core expelling all her mana. He was sent to the floor, landing on top of the dead demon. The way was clear and there was a mist of squid blood around them.

  Pinch launched herself out of the crypt, mana wings fluttering behind her, as she hurled shuriken.

  Ames grabbed Gray, and they stumbled out of the crypt, and bumped into Rynn, who was covered in black demon blood. But her own red blood was dripping down her arm and legs from being gashed by all the beaks.

  Gray filled her core again, and then the three of them were running from the squid, who had regrouped.

  Pinch gave them cover as they fled.

  Finally, they got lucky. When they moved away from the bigger crypts, the squid had less to hang onto. On the ground, they were ridiculously slow.

  Rynn and Ames half-carried Gray to the hole. He couldn’t climb down the ladder, not until Ames healed him and then Rynn.

  Pinch landed next to them, turned, and flung shuriken. “Go. Now. You fucking idiots.”

  Gray’s head was still reeling as he started down the ladder. He’d lost his sword, but he still had his stick, slung over his shoulder.

  When he emerged from the hole on the other side of the wall, there were two fae guards standing with their spears aimed at his chest. One was rail thin, and the other was enormous, muscled, and scowling. They were in the gleaming armor, and they had both a dagger, and a short club hanging from their belts.

  The thin one smiled, and that smile was as sharp as cold dagger in the night. “Well, look what we have here? A poacher. It’s been a while since we’ve had a public execution. Or should we save the Lascivia Family the expense and do it right now?”