Chapter 32

The camp was much like it had been the night before; an orc patrolled the area on Macrauchenia-back, while a few humans worked by torchlight. I’d been distracted the night before, but I realized it was like a more orderly version of my village. The houses were nearly identical and were arranged neatly, and each had a small garden in front of it.

“What does your master have them doing, anyway?”

“Growing food for the demons,” he said. “Others he brings into his home, and it’s…” Virgil winced at an unpleasant memory. “There is a reason he grabs new ‘volunteers’ from the sea whenever he can.”

My stomach did a flip flop; forced wedding or no, I didn’t want to leave Zack or anybody else in that camp a minute longer. “Bring us closer; I want to find Zack.”

“Can you describe him? I might have seen him around.”

“He’s about a head taller than me, very broad shouldered. He’s Malaysian, if that helps.”

“Can’t say that it does; human men all look alike to me, besides the facial hair.”

“I doubt they’re letting him shave,” I muttered. “He has darkish-olive skin; can you tell that apart?”

“That describes a big chunk of the latest crop of workers,” Virgil groused. “Compare him to the rest of the crew; would you say he stood out compared to them?”

“He was taller than the rest.”

Virgil hesitated a moment, but he gently pulled me towards one of the cabins, before guiding me between a woodpile and the wall of the structure. “Duck down and stay here; I’ll be right back.”

“What? You can’t—”

He could leave me there, as it turned out. I shimmered back into view as he released my hand, and he followed suit, marching out of sight without a word. He saved his words for the orc, barking something in a language I didn’t understand. The orc replied in turn, though he sounded marble-mouthed. It probably isn’t easy to talk around tusks.

A shudder ran down my spine at the sound. “Bloody heck, even their language sounds unnatural.”

After a quick argument, Virgil shouted, “Firbolg!” A fireball shot into the sky, followed by a panicked bleat and a loud thud as something slammed into the bare earth.

I shouldn’t have moved, but if Virgil was tossing around magic, I needed to know why. The tan Macrauchenia had bucked its rider and darted to the edge of the forest, its prehensile nose flicking every which way. Virgil planted his foot in the center of the prone orc’s chest. I didn’t have to speak Demonic to understand Virgil’s meaning; the orc nodded hastily and beat a hasty retreat.

I wasn’t the only one drawn by the noise, though. A familiar bushy face stood in the doorway of the hut, roused from his sleep by the commotion. I hurried back behind the wood pile, but I must have made too much noise; Captain Zhang’s face peered around the corner of the hut.

My eyes met his dull expression. My heart sank to see the fire snuffed out of the troublesome captain’s eyes.

“Who’re you?” he asked.

“Shh, it’s going to be okay,” I said. “Go back inside and pretend you didn’t see me. We’ll get you out of this.”

I couldn’t be sure how much of what I said sank in, but a thin smile crossed his face as recognition sparked. “Bad luck,” he murmured before going back the way he came.

My heart beat like a drum roll as I cowered behind the woodpile. Was he going to report me? Also, did this mean that Zack was going to be just as lobotomized? I’d almost rather never see him again than see him in that state.

I didn’t have a choice in the matter, as an increasingly familiar red pace appeared before me.

“I said to stay put,” Virgil growled.

“What was all of that racket about?” I asked.

“The orcs seem to think that they don’t have to listen to me sometimes,” he replied, flashing me a feral grin. “I might be the lowest ranking devil on the island, but I’m still their better.”

So much for thinking Virgil was a complete softie. “Did you find Zack?”

“I told him to fetch me the tallest human in the camp to help me with some heavy lifting,” he said, proffering his hand. I accepted it, and this time I vanished, but he didn’t. We made our way back into the opening. “Hopefully it’s your man.”

I followed Virgil, not that I had much choice. The orc wore an insolent scowl as he dragged Zack forward by a rope around his neck. He was dressed in one of the familiar surplus jumpsuits; it fit him better than me, even after weeks of overlook and neglect. His cheeks were sunken, and his eyes were ringed with dark circles.

Virgil glanced down and pointed angrily at the irons around Zack’s ankles, and the orc sullenly bent down to unlock them.

Since I had snapped out of Ozzie’s programming, I’d wanted nothing more than to see Zack again, but it felt like I’d made a wish on a monkey’s paw. It was him; the same adorable nose and strong chin I’d come to know so well, but there was nobody home behind his eyes. He stood there placidly as Virgil and the orc bickered over him.

For the first time in days, Stormbringer connected with my emotions, a light, misting rain beginning to fall as tears welled up in my eyes. You chose a fine time to wake back up, powers. I wasn’t sure why it had shut down in the first place, but I’d have to go back guarding my emotions.

I dried my eyes with my free hand. No, stop it. You’re invisible now, but you want to look good for Zack, right? If he’ll even notice.

Taking Zack’s leash, Virgil gave it a light tug. “Come along,” he said, before hurling a last insult at the cringing orc.

Virgil led us along the megapede’s path through the jungle until the lights of the work camp’s torches faded from sight. “Well, let’s see if this is everything you hoped it would be.”

As I came back into sight, I let out a long, cleansing breath. If Zack was surprised by a girl appearing out of thin air, he didn’t show it. I couldn’t resist myself, as I leapt forward and wrapped my arms around him. He smelled awful, like sweat and rot; then again, I hadn’t had a real bath since I’d landed, so I doubted I was much better.

It was like embracing one of the tree trunks. He looked down at me briefly, before turning back to Virgil. “What am I here for?”

“Not for my sake, I assure you,” muttered Virgil, leaning against a tree with his arms folded over his chest. “Well, Rose, this is the man of your dreams. Enjoy him, or don’t. I’ve fulfilled my side of our deal.”

I looked up into Zack’s eyes, willing him to look down at me. He didn’t, his eyes firmly fixed dead ahead. “Zack? Zakariah?” Still no response. “Jesus Christ, what did they do to him?”

“No reason to say something so filthy,” said Virgil, looking slightly ill. “They hit him with a mind control spell to make him more pliant, just like they did to you.”

“Yes, but even the Haveners still have personalities. It’s like he’s a robot, yeah?” I’d thrown in my little impression from Zack in on purpose for once, hoping to elicit a response.

It was a vain hope. “Who is this, Submaster?” asked Zack, pointing down at me.

Virgil spat. “I still can’t believe that’s what Master has them call me…”

The rain came as I latched onto Zack, willing him to notice. “Zack, please. You have to wake up.”

He gave no response, looking ahead with a glazed over expression.

“Regemskirn,” muttered Virgil, casting himself a translucent umbrella made of magical energy. “I’m afraid it isn’t that simple, my… Rose. You’re right, he is practically a robot.”

“I broke my conditioning,” I said. I couldn’t take my eyes off Zack, as much as I wanted to look away. I didn’t want to miss the moment he came back to me.

“Yes, well, you’re a wizard,” he replied. “You’re tuned in to magic; it makes you harder to lobotomize with it. Honestly, I’m surprised the Master wasted one of you on the village.”

“Ozzie didn’t know. I’m sure of it.” I paused. “Wait, does that mean that Lieutenant O’Connor is working with Zack and the rest? He was a wizard, too.”

Virgil winced. “That’s almost worse for him; humans with magical potential vanish, and I never see them again.”

More tears, more rain. It was an all-too familiar combination, and useless as always. Whatever Virgil’s master had done to Zack, he didn’t even try to shield himself.

“Are you quite done? You’re just getting the both of you wet.”

“I’ve only been at it a few minutes, Virgil! Besides, Captain Zhang called me bad luck when I ran into him in the work camp. Zack’s still buried in there somewhere.”

“So you were spotted,” said Virgil. “Hopefully this ‘Zhang’ stays quiet. I imagine he will, as long as nobody asks him directly.”

“You’re missing the point! Zhang called me bad luck on his ship. They can suppress the real man, but they can’t snuff him out.”

“If you say so,” said Virgil. “You’re making a bit of a racket; I’ll keep a lookout.”

“Why worry? You can just hide us with your magic.”

“Well…” He squirmed uncomfortably. “I suppose you won’t use this against me. My affinity shorts out when I’m wet, and you didn’t give me much warning you were going to start a shower.”

“Oh, I see.” I had wondered why he hadn’t simply vanished when I first encountered him.

“Yes, that’s the problem, isn’t it?” He chuckled at his own joke as he walked away from us, waving a goodbye. “Let me know when it’s over with, and spare me the details. I don’t like stories with sad endings.” He stepped around the corner, out of sight. Most likely, he simply didn’t want to watch me embrace Zack. I’d expect jealousy from a devil, even one with some hints of human kindness.

Once we were alone, my lips brushed across Zack’s. “I missed you so much, Zack,” I said. “Even when I didn’t know it, it felt like something was missing.”

Except for the warmth of his lips, it was like snogging a statue. He finally looked down at me, but his expression was somewhere between blank and confused.

“I’m sorry I did this to you. If it weren’t for me, you’d be back on your way home, but I just had to insist.” His face was still an impassive mask. “Come on, Zack! I know there’s a piece of you in there, trying to get out. I swear, I’ll do whatever I can to get you out.” I tried to be strong for him; he’d need all the support he could get. Ozzie had left me feeling like a shrill voice in the back of my own head, wrestling against the pliant islander he had planted within me.

“Come on, Scarecrow, you’re frightening me. You look like the real thing right now.”

There it was; a twitch at the corner of his eye at his old nickname.

“That’s right, you never cared to be called Scarecrow, did you, Scarecrow? You grew past it, just like you’ll grow past this.” I wrapped my arms around his neck, standing on tiptoes to kiss him again. I repositioned his arms to wrap around my waist. We were both soaked from the rain, but I took some comfort in his presence.

Well, his physical presence.

I flashed him a coy grin. “Remember what you said on the boat? I don’t think I got to reply, but yes, Zack. When we get back to Labuan, we’ll have a great time, and we won’t let anybody stop us. Forget the League, the Navy, my parents, forget it all, I just want you. You just have to wake up first. What do you say, Scarecrow?”

Nothing. I’d just confessed to him, and I might as well have been reading my grocery list at him.

I couldn’t keep a stiff upper lip for him anymore. I grabbed him tighter, as if trying to squeeze the poison out of him, sobbing into his chest.

Stop it; if he is fighting in there, he’ll only feel worse.

Even knowing that, I couldn’t bring myself to stop.

I’m not sure how long it was like that, before something took me by surprise. Zack stiffened, and suddenly the arms I’d placed around myself caught me in a tight embrace.

“Zack?”

“Brace-face,” he murmured. I ended up supporting his bulk as knees buckled.

“Zack!” Joy filled my heart to bursting, ending the rain in an instant, but I had bigger worries. His weight was too much for me, and we ended up settling into the fresh mud churned up by my downpour. It was a controlled fall, though, and we landed on our knees. “You’re back! And don’t call me brace-face.”

He straightened up, flashing me a weak grin. “It makes up for all of that ‘Scarecrow’ nonsense, yeah?”

“Don’t make me regret fixing you,” I said, laughing as the tension flowed out of me.

“Bloody hell,” he murmured, clutching his head. “Where am I?”

“You don’t remember?” I asked. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hold him close, or release him and look him in the eye; I settled on the first.

“It’s a blur, yeah? I know I’ve been carrying something or other, and there’s some short-tempered slavedrivers.” He gently pushed me back, his brow furrowed in confusion. “I… are there orcs around here?”

“Worse than that,” I said. “Don’t be too surprised when you meet him, alright?”

“Worse than an orc? That’s a Hell of a way to refer to someone who got you back your boyfriend,” said Virgil’s bitter voice as he emerged from the tree line.

Zack’s whole body tensed when he spotted our visitor. He sprang to his feet in a single bound. “I recognize you, you bugger! You’re one of them!”

“Zack, stop!”

He didn’t hear me at all, instead rushing towards the startled looking Virgil.

Virgil weaved around Zack’s wild punches without much trouble. “Rose, call off your dog or I’ll start taking this personally.”

“Spectral Web!” I didn’t put much into the energy structure, but it was enough to bind Zack’s right arm to his side. “I said stop! He’s on our side!”

Zack’s eyes widened. “Did you hit your head? He’s a devil! Whatever he told you, you can’t trust him.”

“Listen to her, you damn fool!” Pivoting back towards his foe, Zack swung his free fist at Virgil’s face. The devil ducked under the attack with panic in his eyes, and I don’t think he was worried about Zack’s haymakers. “You both need to… You aren’t going to hit me, cut it out already. You both need to get under cover, before—”

For the first time, I heard loud, squelching footsteps approaching us. One of the rider orcs came into view, his tawny mount bleating as the brute kicked him in the side to spur him on.

“Before that,” moaned Virgil, an instant before Zack finally nailed him in the side of the head, dropping him into the mud.