Page 57 of Inferno
Heavens above, had Nerik actually got himself captured?
But what would he have been doing in infernal form in daylight? After the close call where Yorin had seen him change forms, he would have expected Nerik to be more cautious. Clearly his expectations in this case were too high.
Unless it wasn’t Nerik at all, but a newcomer who had decided to brave the gate?
How the hell was Yorin supposed to know? He edged closer, willing the infernal to turn around and look at him. But even then, would he be able to tell Nerik from any other infernal? He’d never had anything to compare him to, so how was he supposed to tell the difference?
Yorin could feel his heart pounding in his ears as he made his way – painfully slowly – around to the front of the cage, every second seeming like an eternity. But when he finally made it far enough to see the infernal’s eyes, he was forced to admit that he still didn’t know the answer. If it was Nerik, he made no move to suggest he recognised Yorin.
But then again, why would he? If Yorin had been in his position, he would have made every effort to make sure none of his friends or acquaintances would draw any suspicion. So maybe Nerik was just ignoring him to try and protect him.
Or maybe it wasn’t Nerik.
The gods damn it, how was he supposed to know? The weight of the situation crashed down on him. Either this was Nerik, in which case, he was going to move heaven and earth to set him free, or it was some other infernal, in which case, he was going to go and find Nerik, so that they could both move heaven and earth to set the captive free. With only five adult infernals alive in the entire world, a sixth would be immeasurably valuable.
But that still didn’t tell him if this was Nerik or not. The last time he’d seen the man, he’d been heading up the mountain, leaving a very bemused Yorin with Zandro…
Zandro! Zandro would know if Nerik made it back last night. He might know where Nerik was planning on going this morning. Yorin took off to the north, ignoring the startled looks on a couple of people’s faces, as he ducked and weaved around them. It was still such a strange concept, to think that he could ask adogwhat a person was doing. But in an odd way, the dog was a person.
Gods, he hoped Nerik was at home. His gut was roiling with the idea of him actually being in that cage, on display for the whole town to gawk at, knowing that he had less than twenty-four hours to live. The thought spurred Yorin on, quickening his pace.
The forest road had never seemed so long, though it was probably only fifteen minutes between leaving the edge of town and arriving at Nerik’s cottage. Yorin’s hands were shaking by this point, and his chest felt tight in a way that had nothing to do with his run. “Zandro? Zandro, are you here?”
He heard the patter of feet, and then the large dog rounded the corner of the house, trotting over to the gate. “Is Nerik here?” Yorin asked, waiting impatiently while Zandro forged a mental connection.
Zandro’s ears flattened slightly against his head.Nerik gone to see Stanley. Give him message. Nerik supposed to come back to see Zandro. Nerik gone too long.
“Fuck,” Yorin muttered, running a hand through his hair. “Oh fuck, I… Shit.” He turned in a circle, as if the tree stump or the garden hoe were going to have any answers.
Where Nerik?
“I don’t know. I think… I think maybe he’s been captured by the soldiers.”
Zandro whimpered, his tail tucking tightly between his legs.Where?
“There’s an infernal in a cage in the centre of town. But I don’t know how to tell if it’s Nerik or not… Zandro! Wait, come back!”
The fire-dog had bolted for the road the instant he had his answer, but he slowed at Yorin’s call, prancing about uncertainly.Go see Nerik. Soldiers bad!
“I don’t even know if it is Nerik or not.”
Zandro ask.
Gods, he was an idiot. Of course, Zandro could hold a telepathic conversation with Nerik, and no one watching on would be any the wiser. “Let’s go,” Yorin said, fired up for the run back into town, even though this was far more exercise than he usually got.Can I talk to you this way for a bit?he asked mentally, aware that it was probably not terribly comfortable for Zandro.Other humans will think it’s strange if I’m having a proper conversation with a dog.
Yes, talk this way, Zandro replied, slowing his pace again as he pulled ahead of Yorin.
You need to know that you absolutely must stay in your current form while we’re in town, okay?Zandro was currently in his ‘domestic dog’ form, brown and stocky, with short fur.If any human sees you change forms, they will kill you.
Zandro understand, Zandro said, and Yorin could only hope it was true. From his manner of speech, it was easy to think of the fire-dog as being like a child, with poorly formed sentences and syntax all over the place. But Zandro had already told him that humans and fire-dogs thought differently. So maybe it was entirely unfair to be judging his intelligence on the basis of language skills alone.
Gods, he had so much to learn. And staging a daring rescue was hardly a good arena to be learning it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The trek back into town seemed to take forever, and yet at the same time, Yorin was dreading arriving. The concept of rescuing Nerik seemed far saner and simpler to imagine for as long as he didn’t actually know whether it was Nerik in that cage. But if it was, then it all became horribly and overwhelmingly real. And Yorin really didn’t know how he was going to deal with that. Would he end up getting himself killed? Would he cave in and denounce Nerik to save his own hide? Would he just fail to come up with even one good idea and be forced to watch his new boyfriend get murdered?
Zandro was surprisingly quiet on the run into town. In the short time that they’d known each other, Yorin had got the clear impression that the fire-dog was the chatty sort. But now, he looked tense and alert, more like a hunting dog than the over-sized lapdog he’d seemed to be when they’d met.