Page 146 of Galaxy Circus Act One

It’s like he suddenly realized he said too much, and he shakes his head. “I can’t tell you. She will kill me.”

“We’re going to kill you anyway, so it really doesn’t matter. You may as well confess everything and take her down with you. Surely you want to see her pay,” I point out, waving a finger between me and Cas. He must realize he’s dead either way.

Josa’s eyes widen, and he starts to shake with terror. “No, no. Please don’t kill me. I swear I’m sorry. The warlocks manipulated me. They promised that if I helped them, then the Vilaxian would take care of all our problems, leaving me free to marry Link. I didn’t know she was your intimate,” he begsme, and Cas growls loudly, sending a shiver of delight down my spine. I do like seeing him get all animalistic over our Lila.

“But you knew she was my mate. You were hoping my mate and the babies she carries inside her would die. You are selfish and evil, and you will suffer before we kill you.”

“Fuck you. That slut deserved it!” Josa shouts. “I’m not telling you anything, and I hope Deianira finds what she’s looking for and makes you all suffer.”

His body starts to shudder again, but I’m not waiting around to see if he melts into a puddle of goo again. I wave a hand, freezing him, and dive into his brain. I shuffle through his memories as his eyes stare at me with panic. I feel him attempt to place a wall around his memories, but it’s useless against my power. I’m so full from his terror, I shred through any barriers like they are butter and comb through the conversation he had with Link’s mother. I frown as I try to make sense of any of it. Finally, when I think I have everything I need, I pull out and wave a hand at the frozen cyborg.

“He’s all yours,” I tell my co-mate. “I have what we need.”

“Good, can you unfreeze him? It seems a little unsporting if I just kill him like this.”

I wave my hand, and Josa staggers to his feet, and without even pausing, he runs, surprisingly fast, between us and out of the cell.

“Huh, I wasn’t expecting that,” I admit and wave a hand to make sure the elevator is locked and he can’t leave the floor.

Caspian rubs his hands together with glee and chuckles. “I do enjoy hunting my prey. It’s no fun if they don’t at least make it a little challenging. Thank you, my friend, for the wonderful gift,” he says manically as he starts hunting the cyborg.

“It isn’t really much of a challenge,” I call as I follow him. I do enjoy a good rendering of limbs, and I’m quite keen to see what the kraken can do. “It’s not like he has anywhere to go.”

“Hmph, that’s true.” Caspian sounds a little disappointed.

“You know, I could help you out and make it a little more exciting if you want,” I offer, and he stops and raises an eyebrow in interest.

“Oh?” he asks, and I smirk.

“Yes. I have a delightful little maze set up in a pocket of reality. I like to send my enemies into it when they’ve vexed me. There is no escape, and they can run around forever. Would you like to chase Josa through it for a little while?”

Caspian’s eyes widen with excitement, and his enthusiasm is delicious. “That would be… agreeable.”

I make a circle with my hand, opening the little pocket reality just as Josa darts out from one of the other cells toward the elevator while we are distracted. He succeeds in running straight into it.

“What do I owe you for this?” Caspian asks, knowing that warlocks never do anything for free.

I tap a finger against my lips as if I’m thinking about it. “Let’s say you’ll owe me a favor for now.”

His excitement turns to suspicion, and I’m practically giddy with glee, but I manage to contain it behind a blank expression.

“Nothing that would put Lila in harm’s way,” he growls, and I quickly shake my head.

“Of course not,” I reassure him. “In fact, Lila may be the one who benefits from any of this,” I tell him playfully, and his suspicion drains away.

“Fine, I’ll owe you a favor, but now I hunt.” He turns toward the pocket of reality and undulates toward it, his anticipation prickling my senses and making me feel excited as well. I follow after him, wanting to see the outcome of our fun.

My little pocket of reality is cooler than the ship’s atmosphere at the moment, but it’s designed to change weather on a whim just to make it a bit more challenging. It can gofrom sweltering hot to freezing cold in the space of a step. The hedge maze constantly shifts, and there are all sorts of delightful surprises waiting for the inhabitants inside, but none that will kill, unfortunately. I wanted to save that right for myself, but they can do some damage. There are also fun plants that can cause you to hallucinate both your wildest dreams and your worst nightmares or make you itch uncontrollably. I send some magic into Cas so he is immune to any of these things. I wouldn’t want him distracted from his task.

Caspian chases Josa through the maze for a good period of time, his worry about Lila well and truly distracted for now. I conjure up a sofa and a pipe and smoke while I wait, the sounds of Josa’s screams and Caspian’s mad cackles a symphony to my ears. Finally, I decide it’s time to wrap this up. Lila will need us, and she should almost be finished with her mating to Saxon by now. It’s been hours.

I send a message through the air to Caspian. “Wrap this up. We need to get back to the circus pod and see our girl.” I manipulate the maze to bring them both back toward me. The vegetation parts, and I find Caspian with Josa hanging in the air above his head, one tentacle wrapped around Josa’s leg, and one around his arm, as he pulls them in opposite directions. My mouth drops open in surprise as Caspian tears his body apart. Josa’s screech is spine chilling, and silver blood splashes all over the kraken as he rends the cyborg in half. Josa is still screaming despite the destruction and blood loss, and Caspian frowns in disappointment.

“He’s still alive,” he grumbles as he drops him to the ground. We watch with surprise as Josa’s body tries to slide back together, his pieces reaching for each other.

“Hmm. That’s disappointing,” I mutter. “Maybe if you remove his head,” I suggest, and Caspian swiftly uses a tentacle to do just that, but Josa just keeps screaming. Tears and snotstream down his head, which is hanging by his green hair from Cas’s tentacle.

“What now?” Cas asks, sounding bewildered.