Free Red Right Hand by Levi Black

pick another Acolyte. Oh, that’s right, you said you can’t.
    Nyarlathotep’s face twisted into a deeper snarl.
    Ashtoreth spoke, her voice gone all smoky and seductive. “Look at me, child.” I turned from the Dark God to the Whore Goddess. She dangled the circlet from her fingertips. “This torc is not a Mark. This is a talisman, an object of my power. It’s a tool you can use or not. Remove it when you are done with the need of it. It will not harm you.” She said it with a low, throaty purr, mouthing the words she spoke as though they were obscene. It tugged something deep inside me. That something I’d felt for the first time only recently.
    I looked over at Daniel. He watched me closely.
    I remembered my promise.
    I reached for the torc. My fingers closed on it, curling around the metal, pressing it against the incised skin of my palm. It hummed in my grip, vibrating with a charge of power that made the magick in my blood sing.
    It wanted me to put the torc on.
    â€œWhat do I do with it?”
    â€œSlip it over your head, child. It is meant to be worn about your neck.”
    It was smaller than my skull. I lifted it to my head.
    This is going to look like a tiara.
    The second the metal touched my scalp, it expanded, pushing against my fingers, sliding over my head like the collar of an old T-shirt until it lay against my collarbones. It was heavy, pressing down in a hard line. The metal went chilly, singing cold across its surface. Gooseflesh raised on my skin.
    Here it comes.
    I braced for the pain.
    Nothing else happened.
    I let loose the breath I had been holding, let my fingers drop away.
    The torc shrank against my throat.
    Choking me.
    My fingers scrabbled, trying to dig underneath. Tight. Too tight. I couldn’t find purchase. Black fireworks burst at the edge of my vision. Flashing in fast and staying, peppering their way inward, turning the world dark a little at a time. I spun, my narrowing gaze falling on the Man in Black. He stood tall and impassive, staring down at me.
    Sonofabitch, he tricked me.
    The torc squeezed, a circle of pain around my throat. As my lungs burned, my trembling knees broke. I slid down. Hands were on me, an arm strong around my shoulders, keeping me off the floor. I slipped sideways and saw Daniel, his face nearly covered with black specks, right next to me. His mouth moved, not making any sound.
    The world blinked away to blackness.
    The torc opened with a sigh, loosening its grip, settling to rest easy at the base of my throat.
    Air, the sweetest air I had ever tasted, rushed into my lungs. The pitch across my eyes cracked, splitting open as I sucked in oxygen, dragging it into my lungs, clawing for it. The first sound I heard other than my own tortured gasps for air was Daniel calling my name, voice pitchy with panic.
    The second was Ashtoreth’s twittering giggle.
    â€œAre you okay?” Daniel held me, keeping me upright.
    The Whore Goddess cackled. “She is fine, cultist. The torc was merely becoming familiar with its wearer.”
    I pushed away, out of Daniel’s arms, standing on wobbly legs. Fire pulsed in my throat but, dammit, I could stand. I pointed a finger at Ashtoreth. “You lied to me.”
    The Whore Goddess pouted. “I did not, child. You are not harmed.”
    â€œIt feels like my larynx has been cut in two.”
    â€œHurt is not harmed. You should learn the difference if you are going to play in the arena of gods.”
    My throat hurt as I said, “Fuck you.”
    Bitch.
    I turned to the Man in Black. “Are we done here? I’m sick of this place.”
    Nyarlathotep turned dark eyes to Ashtoreth. “The talisman will let her find my kind on this plane of existence?”
    â€œMore than that, Lord of Nightmares. I have given your Acolyte the ability to not only find what you seek, but to take you there as well. All she has to do is use the Sight you gave her, and the talisman