CHAPTER 222

Walking past the fairy glade, she approached the large spider's web in the middle of a clearing. Ensnarled twenty feet above, Leeds glared down at her with a malice that nearly radiated heat.

"You look comfortable," she told him.

Leeds spat at her, only to be zapped by one of the many sprites supervising him. The sprites were humanoid in shape, and carried little rods that fired bursts of magic that caused a terrible burning sensation. Leeds flinched, his lips curling up in pain.

"So is today the day?" he asked. "After so many weeks, has the Caretaker decided what is to become of me?"

Abella shook her head. "I'm just here to move you," she told him, then nodded to a group of nearby gnomes. They gave her a salute and scrambled up the trees that supported the web. Using sharp blades, they cut the ropes in a manner that had Leeds sink to the ground as if in slow motion. Once he was within reach, Abella slapped a silver collar around his neck.

"What is this?" he asked.

"You tell me," she replied. Ratu had made it to keep him from ducking into the shadows and escaping. Suspending him in the air had prevented this, but keeping the area well-lit every night had been a time intensive endeavor.

Leeds regarded her with anger, then grunted. "You know I can't read your mind, don't you?"

Abella nodded. She had wondered for a long time why he had taken special care to remove her before the fight. Originally, she thought it had been her strength he feared. But after much discussion with the others, it was the fact that she had figured out that he couldn't read her thoughts. Without knowing what was going on in her head, he couldn't predict her actions, nor use them against her.

It was also the reason she had been sent to move him.

"This way." She grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and pulled him to his feet. The webbing that Eulalie had wrapped him in lasted for a few days at a time. These strands had another day of use at most, and a couple ripped free. Grabbing hold of a loose (but strong) strand, she pulled him forward.

It didn't surprise her when Leeds fell onto the ground and went limp.

"If you expect me to behave, you are wrong," he explained.

"Suit yourself." She grabbed him by the tail and dragged him through the woods. Just beyond the clearing was a tiny shed without any windows, and she stopped just short of the door.

"Is this to be my new home?" he asked sarcastically. "You are locking me in a porta-potty?"

When she opened the door, a blast of cold air blew across her skin. Leeds recoiled at first, then tilted his head for a better look.

"I don't understand," he said.

"You will." Abella grabbed him by the wings and threw him through the portal on the far wall. When she followed, she found him biting at his bonds in a last-minute bid for freedom. They now stood in a small yurt with no windows and a flap for a door.

"Where have you brought me?" he demanded.

"I'll let the Caretaker explain." With a smirk, she wrestled Leeds onto a nearby gurney made of steel. Ratu had enchanted the cuffs to clamp down on his limbs, and Abella was soon pushing him through the leather flap and outside. They were on a rocky trail, surrounded by steep cliffs.

"Where is he?" Leeds snorted and fog billowed from his lips. "I would have him see me like this! Come see your own cruelty, dammit!"

"Oh, he's busy. Sorry, I almost forgot." She knelt below the gurney and turned on the speaker that sat on the bottom. It was plugged into an old mp3 player that had been duct-taped to the back of it.

"Hello, Leeds." Mike's voice crackled to life through the speaker. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there in person to see just how wretched you are, but I have been busy with important things."

"He lies!" Leeds laughed hysterically. "He is afraid of me and cannot bear to watch my execution! Not that it will work," he hastily added.

"I will try to keep this brief," Mike continued. "You see, you took something from me that can never be replaced. You were inside my head, saw how much she meant to me, maybe even how much we meant to each other."

"Kiss my ass, Caretaker. Wait, where are we?" Leeds craned his head to look at the rocky overhang that blotted out the sun. The overhang became a cave, eight feet tall and cut in a perfect circle. It descended at a gentle angle, and Abella clicked the button on the side of the gurney that turned on the headlights that Tink had made for her.

"You are a complicated man, Leeds. Brought into this world and cursed with a human soul while wearing the body of a hideous beast. If I had been cursed as you, would I have done the same? Would I have gone out of my way to cause pain and suffering? It's not something I can answer, but I will say this: if I had, then I deserved whatever I had coming."

Leeds struggled against his bonds as Abella knelt down to pause the audio.

"Why don't you just dip me in holy water and get it over with? Oh, that's right, I'll be back in a couple of days," Leeds yelled. "You had a chance to destroy me, do you know that? YOU COULD HAVE ENDED ME! I felt all that dark, beautiful power, and you WASTED IT!"

Abella winced once the shouting was too loud. She slapped Leeds hard enough that the gurney teetered.

"You are too noisy," she told him. "Now it's my turn to speak, and you're going to listen. Understand?"

"What the fuck are you about?" Leeds asked, one wing popping free. Abella paused long enough to clamp it down to the gurney, then continued her descent. "I don't give a shit what you have to say."