The din of cockroaches increased such that I could barely hear Olivia’s groans through their awful clicks and hums.
I torqued my head to look at her.
With a long, low moan, she pushed herself up to sit. “You bastard! You tricked me into hurting the man I love!”
“You don’t love him,” Balthazar roared. “You don’t even know what love is! What Alina and I shared—that was love.”
“And where is your precious Alina now, huh? You killed her. Some love.” Olivia spat out a mouthful of blood.
Balthazar threw back his head and let out a hideous howl. “You think this is some kind of joke? Do you think you can killmewith your puny dagger? Take your anger out and come after me? Think again.”
He made a few clicking noises, and a new set of cockroaches pushed out of hiding. The ground shattered as they fought to free themselves. The hideous creatures were as large as my face.
“Have fun,” Balthazar bellowed and promptly disappeared, blasting from his lair in an explosion. As he fractured from sight, his wall of daggers disappeared.
Thousands of brown and black insects swarmed toward me, toward Olivia, the tumult of their noises clawing at my eardrums. I hopped, kicked, squirmed, and writhed, trying to shake the foul creatures from my limbs.
Olivia lunged to her feet and staggered. She seemed woozy, no doubt concussed from striking the wall. But she fought with the insects, slashing the ones that flew at her, stomping at others.
I hung like a wiggling worm, unable to help her. I’d been rendered helpless, unmanned by the demon Balthazar.
Olivia rallied against the swarming insects, slicing and trampling.
I shuddered against the onslaught of their tiny legs marching everywhere. They crawled up my pants legs, inside my buckskin shirt, underarms, and up my arms. I shook my head to keep them from my face, but still, I couldn’t stop their incessant wandering.
It seemed like hours ensued with Olivia and I immersed in our personal hells.
Finally, only a few insects limped in circles. The rest were either dead, killed by Olivia, or fled back into hiding.
Olivia collapsed onto the floor.
I hung, grateful for the silence, grateful that a million little legs no longer tormented my skin.
Olivia lay a hand on my non-swollen ankle. “God, that was awful.”
“Horrifying,” I gasped.
“Do you think they’re making babies as we speak? They’ll soon return in the millions?” Her voice sounded faint and hoarse.
I shuddered.
“Hell, I hope not.” I regarded her, helpless to give her comfort. Then, I said, “You know he’s toying with you. He wants to kill you.”
“I know. He should just get it over with rather than torment us with bugs.” A shiver pulsed through her body as she lay there, eyes closed.
We both fell into silence. I was sure Olivia slept from the deep cadence of her breathing.
My arms were numb in places, and sharp shooting pains stabbed me in others. My ankle screamed in pain. It needed to be set and wrapped to heal.
Would I ever be able to walk on it again?
My heart ached at being unable to comfort Olivia and take her away from here. I felt like a pathetic excuse for a human being, and I slipped into despair. My head bobbed against my chest, and I fell into a restless, heavy sleep.
A clatter sounded, and I stirred from my drowse. My lips were parched and cracked, and hunger gnawed at my insides. My body was on fire, consumed by fever.
Olivia stirred, too.
“Aw, the two lovebirds are napping together,” Balthazar said, stalking toward us from a dark corner.
