7 Deadly Instincts (The Sinfire Chronicles Book 1)

Gray spent the next day at First Field, alone, talking with the four squads who hadn’t won a single event yet—the Savage Seven, Froggy’s Thunder, the Golden, and the Lucky Bastards.

On Culling Day, Gray’s team had come in first place thanks to Rynn’s ability to vent her core. That had kept her on the dais during Final Hold to get enough points to win. Of course, Gray had kept her fed with mana and it had nearly killed him. The fae squad, the Winners, had come in second place, while the Fire Flyers came in third. That was back when Blythe and Sindara were on Squad 49. Now, both had been replaced by the Magnifica sisters.

For Soulshred Week, Gray had given up winning altogether. The top three teams, in order, had been the fae squad at the top, with the remnants of the Fire Flyers coming in second, and the Wrath City Raiders in last place.

The fae squad had the best chance to win the Testing with two victories. Coming in behind them were the Fire Flyers and the orcs team trailing. Those three squads couldn’t be trusted.

But the other squads? They were a different story. Their motivations were clear—they wanted to place in the final event to get even a little notoriety. They’d been bullied by the fae squad, terrorized by the Fire Flyers, and harassed by the orcs. There was no love there.

Gray remembered how kind the dwarven leader Krain Darkstone had been to Tomi during the Soulshred. Even Mean Marla had softened. Not only that, she had something that could very help change the very nature of the Reckoning. Better yet, she was willing to share that information as long as she thought it could help them. As for Froggy, she was still as annoying as hell. Yes, she had stolen from Rynn but at the same time, she’d been devastated by guilt over the Grist incident. As for the Savage Seven, their leader, a vicious dogkin named Brutus Sommes, was difficult to read. He was a greasy faced man with bad teeth and a wicked gleam in his eye. He said he needed to talk to his sponsor before he could agree to Gray’s plan.

The die had been cast. Gray had done all he could, and it had been an exhausting day, and he didn’t start back to Ruin Manor until late.

He was passing Gorgonzola’s Counter when he saw Midj there, eating alone. The restaurant was closing, up the goblins wiping down tables, doing dishes, that sort of thing. It was another warm night though every so often, a chill wind would blow in, just enough to give you a little shiver.

Gray winced. He’d forgotten that they were all supposed to have dinner with her family. Had they been trying to reach him? Probably. He’d told Rynn and Ames that he was going to First Field to get some things in order, even though Settie had given them the day off. She wanted them rested before they had to endure the Reckoning.

Gray hurried over, feeling terrible. He knew how important Midj’s family was to her.

Sitting down, he noticed that Midj had a full plate of Gorgonzola’s garlic knots there along with a little bowl of red gravy for dipping. Next to her plate was a glass of red wine, manafied no doubt.

She didn’t look up. She just stared at the full plate, not eating.

“Midj, I am so sorry,” Gray started. “I was getting things ready for tomorrow.”

The little goblin woman only shook her head. “It’s fine. I mean, it’s not fine, but it’s fine.”

“Where’s your family?” he asked.

A tear slid down her face and dropped onto the plate.

Gray felt his heart drop. “They didn’t come, did they?”

“They tried,” she whispered. “But there was a big wedding banquet tonight, and they couldn’t say no to the money. Papa couldn’t. Momsy would’ve, but then, she’s not so good when it comes to the business. And from the sound of it, the Reckoning won’t be like the Chaotica matches we played in the stadium. They won’t see much of me…not all that much. So it’s fine.”

Gray nudged her. “But they’ll be here for closing ceremonies, right?”

“Maybe. Probably shouldn’t get my hopes up. Because, you know, the disappointment hurts so much. Kinda has me thinking…”

She didn’t finish her thought.

Gorgonzola himself threw Gray a worried look. He came over and put down a glass of wine for Gray and then hurried off.

Gray sipped the wine and felt the effect immediately. After the day he’d had, it felt too good. “What are you thinking, Midj?”

“Has me thinking that maybe I love them more than they love me.” She sobbed once and then squeezed her eyes shut. “No. I’m not going to cry. I’m a big girl, and it’s the real world, and besides, I have more important things to worry about. Like, you know, dying tomorrow.”

“No one is dying.” Gray tried not to laugh but couldn’t help it. “At least not this time. Waiting for people to be resurrected is fucking terrible.”

Midj chuckled a little. “You’re not wrong. Oh, Gray, it just breaks my heart. Maybe it’s better to not hope for things. Maybe it’s just better to hate…or not feel at all. Maybe I should just tell them not to come. Then I wouldn’t get my hopes up.”

“That’s one way to do it.” A million conversations with Blind John came to him. He wasn’t sure which bit of wisdom fit.

Finally, the little goblin woman turned to look at him. “But you wouldn’t suggest it, would you?”

Before he could stop himself, he wiped some of the tears off her face. “I wouldn’t. No.”

“What would Aunt Florence say?” Midj asked with a little smile breaking through.

“That’s Rynn’s teacher. Mine is Blind John.”

She laughed a little. “Oh, I know. I know. How could I forget? Just joshing with you a little. Tell me what Blind John would say.”

“We live our lives one moment at a time. We don’t live in the past, and we don’t live in the future. We live in the moment. Our mind tricks us that things are different.”

“So we shouldn’t plan?” she asked.

“Of course we should plan. We’re not fucking idiots.”

She rolled her eyes. “It feels like I’m talking to Pinch.”

“Pamalee if you please.” Gray paused. “We plan. But when the time comes, when the plan either works or fails, we are still living in that moment. The great lesson in life is learning how to handle success and failure equally. If we are at peace in the moment, success or failure doesn’t matter. Because in the moment, we are fine.”

“But some moments are going to be finer than others…” Midj said softly.

“That’s the truth. Life can only be perfect in moments. We should be grateful for those perfect moments but we shouldn’t cling to them.” Gray couldn’t help but glance at the garlic-knots. They were still hot, right out of the oven, with the garlic butter dripping onto the plate.

Midj took his hand.

He held it gently.

“What do I do with this disappointment?” the goblin girl asked in a broken voice.

“Let it go. And feel the hope of seeing your family again. You’re strong, Midjara Munch. And you’re lucky. You don’t just have one family, you have two.”

Midj finally had the courage to look him in the face. And she smiled. “Squad 23 is like a family, though, my real one doesn’t have nearly the amount of consternation that most of our girls have. Is Tomi going to be able to make it down there in the Underdwell?”

Gray leaned in close. “Want to know a secret?”

Midj nodded. “Tell me.”

“She’s been going down there with Settie. They’ve been mapping out the city down there. It goes on for miles and miles. There’s not so many demons down there, not now, but that could change.”

The goblin girl’s face went from frowning to smiling. “You’ll have a plan, don’t you?”

“Me? Scheming?” he laughed.

She laughed too. “Always scheming. Always trying to give us an edge. We’re going to win this, aren’t we?”

“No,” Gray said laughing. “It’s unlikely we’ll win, but we will live through the experience, and this Reckoning will be the talk of the town for years to come. Now, are we going to eat those garlic knot before they get even colder? The minute I saw that full plate, I got worried. I knew it was bad.”

Midj nodded and grabbed a gooey bit of dough. “Oh, there were some bad moments all right. Now I get some good moments. We’re going to eat, go home, have a happy night, and tomorrow morning, we’re going to win this thing, no matter what you say.”

She popped the knot into her mouth, her eyelids fluttered, and he saw her core light up with mana. “Oh, that’s good. Right now, I’m eating good food, with a good friend, with hope in my heart. It kinda doesn’t matter how the Reckoning turns out because feeling good about it now beats feeling bad about it.”

“Exactly!” Gray said with some excitement. “That’s the power of self-mastery. We get to choose our state of mind. Circumstances don’t matter. I can be alive in victory and defeat, and we—”

Midj jammed a garlic knot into his mouth. “Enough talk. More eating. Try it with the sauce. That Gorgonzola must have some kind of magic to make that sauce taste so good.”

They talked more, and when Gray told the goblin girl about his plan, she only shook her head. She said something about it being so crazy that it just might work. Or something. It was some cliché from Cracker Rock in the Backbone Islands that made her laugh and laugh.

Once their wine glasses were as empty as that plate, Gorgonzola came and shooed them away in a good-natured way.

And just like that they were stumbling back to Ruin Manor on that warm night.

Back at Ruin Manor, everyone was still up, and even Lilian was around the table. They were all in their pajamas, washed and clean and drinking red bush tea and talking. Pinch was talking with Ames, their heads close, and both smiling.

Rynn got up and ran over and kissed Gray, leading him and Midj to the table. “Let me get you tea. We have some cookies but they’re a little old. Don’t worry, we have everything we need for tomorrow. As my Aunt Florence likes to say, don’t end your day without preparing for the next one. Sunrises weren’t made for packing.”

Gray noticed that his elf girl used the present tense when talking about her wise aunt. In that way, good ol’ Florence would live forever in all of her many lessons.

Settie came down the steps, a grim look on her face. She stood facing the seven recruits. “I know your plan, Gray. Ames told me. Don’t blame her. It took some doing on my part to parse her words well enough for me to understand.”

Ames lowered her head in shame. “Friendship is milk but sometimes it turns sour. But if it’s whipped it becomes butter. Sour or sweet, like the sweet milk of charbrew. With frizzle twist, it can create a delicious meal because it’s all the flavors working together even though some flavors are better than others.”

Tomi snickered. “Yep. That’s basically Gray’s plan. Everyone get that? Lilian, I’m pretty sure you’re the sweet milk.”

“I’m the fucking sweet milk,” Pinch growled. “Idiot.”

Lilian giggled. “Can I be the sour milk? Please? Pretty please!”

Ames frowned. “No. Clearly, we’re all the frizzle twist. Are you making fun of me?”

Gray stretched out his legs and let out a sigh. “I don’t blame you, Ames. This is the safest way to get through this, Captain. And yes, we won’t win, everyone will know what we did—from the fae queen to the Supera family in Pride City to the Magistrate.”

Settie didn’t lose her scowl. “What about Miss Hama? What about Rynn’s father’s shop in Greed City?”

“I’m sure that he’d rather have his daughter still alive than dead. Besides, this isn’t about winning. It’s about making a name for ourselves. That is exactly what we’re doing with this plan.”

Settie’s scowl slowly faded away. She never glanced away from Gray. “I want to disagree. I want to argue with you. I want to be right. In this case, I can’t do any of those things. I can’t even be right because I’d rather lose the Reckoning than lose any one of you. I’d never thought I’d say that, but it’s the truth. Thank you all for risking your lives in this endeavor. I promise you, I promise I’ll…I’ll make it worth your while in the end. Or I will be the one to lose my life.”

She went to turn away but Rynn was up and pulling her to a chair. “Stay with us, Captain. Let’s drink tea, and talk, and let’s just be together.”

“Yeah,” Midj said, glancing over at Gray. “Let’s enjoy these moments and the hope we feel right now. Not just the hope for the Reckoning and all that but the hope for the future. And dang it, my parents will get here eventually. And we’ll all have such together. I’m sure of it.”

Tomi knocked the goblin girl. “Yeah, we will. And we’ll eat ourselves into coma. Can’t wait. I’ll sleep so well after that. Probably won’t get much sleep until then. So it’ll keep me going. Hope springs eternal.”

Pinch sighed and scowled. “Fucking idiots.”

Lilian got up and kissed the fae girl on the forehead. “We’re idiots because we tolerate you, Miss Thornpinch. Don’t worry. We all have our new abilities working. Well, kind of. I do, if I can control it. Otherwise, I might burn up the entire city.” She giggled.

It was slightly unnerving.

The truth was, they all had been struggling with their adept abilities.

Gray knew that out of all of them, his was the most important.

Because it was the only thing that might keep Lilian’s inferno from consuming them all all.

Things turned sour for a minute—sour like Ames’s milk analogy, but then Tomi laughed. “I must really like you all because I’m giving up sleep for this. Am I crazy? Yes, the answer is I’m crazy.”

Before he lost control of the night, Gray had a final question for the captain. “You said you’d tell me your plans if we won the Testing. If we come back alive, I’ll want answers.”

The captain’s smile was exhausted. “And I will give them to you, precious Gray. How could I not after all this?”

They laughed more, talked more, and then, when the tea and cookies were gone, and their supplies were all packed, they went to bed.

Gray kissed Rynn, kissed Ames, and then fell asleep.

He went to the place of water and stars but Oma wasn’t there and the shack had been burned to the ground. The smoke hung in the air.

But then suddenly he wasn’t near the island anymore.

He was back in Wrath City, the tower destroyed, and the cloaked demon hunting him. Glancing up, he didn’t see the sky, he saw stone.

The realization he was in the Underdwell snapped him out of his sleep.

Daylight filled the window.

In a few short hours, the Reckoning would begin.

And nothing would ever be the same.