Free The Devil's Backbone (A Niki Slobodian Novel: Book Five) by J.L. Murray Page A

she?”
    “Yes.”
    “You saw yourself in her.”
    “She said someone took her child,” I said. “She was so broken. Maybe she could have been fixed.”
    “You can tame a tiger,” said Aki, “but eventually the tiger will remember that it is a tiger.”
    “What the hell does that mean?”
    “It means the Yuki-onna is a monster. You can’t turn her into a pet. She’s going to go back to her nature at some point. It’s only a matter of time.”
    “You say that word a lot. Monster.”
    “So?”
    “So, what makes her a monster?”
    Aki didn’t answer, but instead sat down on the couch wearily.  
    “Was she always a monster?” I said.  
    “Why?”
    “Because I need to know,” I said.  
    He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them to look at me. “No,” he said. “She wasn’t always a monster. She was a person once. But she chose to become this way. Maybe out of grief. Maybe out of madness. You make a choice to be one way or another, Niki.”
    “She was an Abby?” I said.
    “Maybe. I don’t know. The point is, she was killing people. Don’t you care about that?”
    I frowned and looked away. “Yes,” I said. “I don’t know. I used to care. I used to care so much.”
    “You forget sometimes, don’t you?” he said.
    “Forget what?”
    “What it’s like to be human.”
    “I held up my end of the bargain,” I said. “Are you going to let Bobby go?”
    He held up his hands in surrender. “Of course.”
    “How will you get back?” I said, suddenly curious. “When you’re done, I mean. Can you leave yet?”
    “I guess I’ll find out when the time comes.”
    “You owe me,” I said.
    “I am aware of that.”
    “You said you ripped a hole in your world and stepped through. Followed the Yuki-onna here. Is that like how we travel to Hell and back?”
    “Yes, it is the same principle,” he said. “You need to visualize who or what or where you want to go to, and then you step through. If you don’t have the specifics in mind, you’ll get lost in the Black.”
    “The Unsung,” I said.
    “Is that what you call it?” he said. “How poetic.”
    “Could you go back if you wanted to?”
    “Why?”
    “Just wondering.”
    He frowned. “I tried to go back. Before. When I realized I couldn’t feel her. I wasn’t able to even touch the fabric of the world.”
    “So you can’t go world-hopping?”
    “Why?” Aki said, frowning.  
    “It doesn't matter. I’m going to get ready,” I said. “And check on Bobby.”
    “He’s fine,” he said quickly. “I didn’t hurt him.”
    “You’ll forgive me if I don’t trust you.”  
    “I don’t require you to trust me,” he said. “I’ve already gotten what I needed.”
    “I would have helped you,” I said. “If you asked.”
    “I’ll go with you,” he said.
    I ground my teeth as he followed me into Gage’s room. I sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at the big man that had been my only friend for so long. He was barely moving with each breath and for a moment I thought he was dead. But then his breath hitched and his chest moved. I looked over at Aki, leaning against the door frame. I looked back at Gage.
    “Bobby,” I said, shaking him through the quilt that covered him. He didn’t stir. I looked back at Aki. “What the hell did you do to him?”
    “I didn’t break him,” said Aki. “I told you he’s sleeping.”
    “Looks more like a coma.”
    “You could call it that. He won’t wake until I tell him to.” His face went cold and serious. “Wake him up,” I said. “Now.”
    I stared at him for a moment. He didn’t avert his eyes. And suddenly I knew.
    “You were going to kill him,” I said.
    “I didn’t say that.”
    “But you were,” I said. “I can see your mind.”
    He frowned. “You can’t. No one can.”
    “But it’s there. You’re weak. You have no power here except over the minds of men and monsters. And sometimes you think that those two are not mutually exclusive.