by HP Mallory
“Sorry, not sorry,” I muttered.
Alaire laughed long and hard, shaking his head while seeming more than amused at my clear disinterest over his plight. “Yes, I imagined you would shed very few tears over her fall from grace and subsequent rapid departure. Statements like that remind me why you were the one I thirsted for, Lily.”
I released an exasperated sigh of my own. “And that’s the part of this that makes absolutely no sense to me. I could access all Persephone’s memories while she was still in control of my body so I know all about the history between the two of you. You and Persephone went way, way back, though not as far as she wanted everyone to think with a name from Greek mythology.”
“Yes, you may recall that she and I first met each other two centuries ago. But a shared history does not promise a happy reunion. While I changed and was changed by time, Persephone herself did not. Spending all that time trapped inside the crown, how could it be otherwise? I believe that single difference was critical enough to doom what I attempted from the very start. Not to mention that I believe all that time in the crown affected her sanity.”
“You mean she wasn’t always a crazy bitch?” I asked facetiously.
Alaire chuckled. “Perhaps not as crazy as she turned out to be.”
“Whatever,” I answered, wishing I weren’t naked. But Alaire wasn’t staring at my body anymore. His gaze was now riveted on my eyes, something I found more than a little bizarre, given his usual behavior.
“So why exactly did you miss me?” I longed for conversation if only to delay the inevitable however I could. “All this heartfelt pining for me seems very strange, considering we have virtually no history and we’re more like enemies than friends.”
“Well, to restate the obvious, you are something very special,” he began with a sigh. “And I have never considered us enemies, my dear.”
“Potato, po-taut-o.”
He raised an eyebrow but didn’t seem too offended. “It’s just that innocence is so hard a virtue to encounter in the Underground City and it always has been. Truth be told, it’s like a drug to me. A lifelong necessity denied me, day in and day out, for thousands of years.”
“Innocence?” I repeated incredulously. I didn’t exactly think of myself as being that innocent. Especially after what Persephone put my body through. Of course, I knew that Alaire’s argument would be the same as Tallis’s—those were Persephone’s decisions, not mine. As far as Alaire was concerned, I was just as innocent as before. What could he and my bladesmith see that I couldn’t?
Alaire looked away, his eyes glazing a bit with fond remembrance as he turned. “Of course, there have been others. The Y2K fiasco did a fine job in making it easier for me to get what I crave than in centuries past.” I swore I saw him licking his lips before he faced me again. “But none of them have ever been as pure as you.” He looked at me salaciously and it made my knees shake. “Do you understand why I had to restore you to your former self now?”
This guy was nuts! “I only understand that you’re a psychopath!” I screamed, pulling at the ropes while wishing Donnchadh would show up. I ached to bust through the restraints and fuck the room up again, and Alaire along with it. In fact, that was a curious subject. Just where was Donnchadh and his blasted infernal temper while we were having this little chat?
Infuriatingly, Alaire remained unoffended and shrugged at my answer. “I’ve never denied what I am. Bastard, psycho, maniac, betrayer… really, it’s just a matter of picking an apt moniker for me. But at least I am honest about myself.”
Another non-inspirational quote popped into my head. “I would rather be a canker in a hedge than a rose in his grace. And it better fits my blood to be disdained of all than to fashion a carriage to rob love of any. In this, though I cannot be said to be a flatteringly honest man, it must not be denied that but I am a plain-dealing villain.”
Alaire’s smile grew so wide, I feared his face could split. “Much Ado About Nothing, Act 1, Scene 3…” He paused for a few moments. “Consider me impressed, Lily.”
I shrugged, not wanting him to be impressed with me at all. That was the reason I was in this debacle in the first place. “I like to memorize everything Keanu Reeves ever said,” I explained, realizing Alaire would see the humor in my comment.
The Master of the Underground City guffawed heartily. “Reeves aside, I still find it impressive that you knew the quote in its entirety. And it does suit me and the occasion, does it not?”
“Getting back to where we were,” I interjected, loath to discuss the prose of Shakespeare without something to cover up my body. “How is it that I’m even here? I mean, as myself, Lily Harper—how am I talking to you right now? Wasn’t I just possessed by Donnchadh only a little while ago?”
Alaire’s smile settled back down to a smug level as he nodded. “And you still are, my dear. Surely, watching the Yeti has educated you on Donnchadh’s recalcitrance in relinquishing any body, despite its flaws.” Then he corrected himself. “Not that your body is flawed but in Donnchadh’s estimation it would be, owing to you being female.”
I frowned. “How did you restore me back to myself?”
“Were you not restrained, I would ask you to lift and then rotate your arm. Once you did that, you would undoubtedly notice the runes freshly tattooed into the skin on your inner forearm.”
“Runes?” I repeated.
Alaire nodded again. “Yes, the lettering binds Donnchadh to the lowest levels of your soul, which, in turn, gives you complete control over your own body.”
I thought it over. “Then Donnchadh can’t make another appearance?”
“Not without the consent of you or me,” Alaire answered evasively.
“And what does that mean? How do I or you give him our consent?”
“That, my dear, is extremely unimportant at this stage.”
Hmm, it sounded supremely important to me. But other questions were begging for answers too.
“And Persephone?” I asked as I studied him. “Is she bound by these runes too?”
Alaire shook his head, curling his lips into a sick and twisted smile that made my guts invert. “We are both well aware that Persephone is no longer in our attendance.” I felt my eyebrows arch at the realization that he knew Persephone was long gone. I imagined Alaire only thought her spirit was being subjugated by mine at the moment, not forever.
“But how?” I started.
“The possession ritual that thrust Donnchadh into your body also decimated any other souls that were taking up residence prior to his arrival.”
I shook my head in frustration. “But what about my soul? I’m still here and undecimated.”
“Ah, yes, but only because I protected you, my dear. After all, Persephone was the one that I no longer wanted.”
“Then you knew you were getting rid of her for good with Donnchadh from the very start?” I asked, just to make sure I was following along correctly.
“Of course. Or did you think your little charade over the last two days could fool me?”
Before I could ask another question, he jerked his hand up to my neck and wrapped his bony fingers around it, squeezing just enough to make me gag a little. Meanwhile, my surprise over his announcement that he knew I’d been playing a part all along bothered me.
“I have to give you credit for mostly staying in character,” he declared, his calm voice at odds with the wild look on his face. “But it’s just as you said. You and Persephone are vastly different people, far too different for you to imitate her effectively. Just because your hair remained dark until this very moment did not blind me from all the other signs. I knew that it was you all along.”
“Then why?” I started.
“Did I allow you to believe I didn’t know?” he asked and then sighed. “I quite enjoyed watching your charade, my dear.”
Two things occurred to me as he said that. First, I noticed that my hair had indeed returned to its original red. Second, he probably knew abo
ut all my plans to escape. As he squeezed me tighter, the third thing that hit me was I needed to persuade him to back off.
“What do you want from me?” I demanded, frightened by the look I glimpsed in his eyes.
“I want you,” he answered blankly. “All of you.”
“What do you mean by that?”
The anger on his face looked like a blood-red sunrise. “It means, I want you to look at me the way you gaze at that Celtic bastard rotting in the cell below us. And what I want, I intend to get.”
I started to shake my head but he gripped my cheeks to hold my head immobile. “Don’t think that it would be unilateral. I could give you everything he never could. He is tainted, rotten, and only a ruin of a man.”
“And what kind of man do you think you are?” I scoffed. “Yes, Tallis has an ugly past. But he’s been seeking absolution for a long, long time. He’s making amends for the sins he committed. Could you ever say the same for yourself?”
Alaire flattened himself on top of me, his hand clamping down on my larnyx. I could only stare at him while the ropes held me fast. He had a weird look in his eyes I couldn’t decipher... Was it anger? Lust? Regret? Pain? I didn’t think he intended to kill me. He’d gone through so much already to reinstate me back into my body. And furthermore, he knew he couldn’t kill me because Donnchadh was inside me. Donnchadh infused his immortality to whatever host he occupied. Or so I thought.
I wondered if there was a way I could release the previous bane of Tallis’s existence. How did the runes he tattooed on my forearm work? And if I did release Donnchadh, what would he do? Would he mess Alaire up? Was that even possible? After all, Tallis mentioned that Alaire was possessed in the same way that Tallis was possessed with Donnchadh.
“You will someday feel for me what you do for the Bladesmith,” Alaire predicted. “I am prepared to do whatever it takes to make that a reality.” He released my throat, presumably so I could reply.
That’s when an idea occurred to me. “And you think this is the way to my heart?” I asked as I glanced down at myself. “Do you really think this is the best way to achieve what you’re seeking?”
“I told you already. I take what I want.”
“So do you want just my body? Or do you want my heart and soul too? Do you want to use me sexually or do you want me to come to you of my own free will? Do you want me to hate you or do you want me to love you? Because if the answer to any of those questions is Option Number One, you should have just left Persephone where she was.” The words poured out of me, propelled by an urgent fear. I sorely hoped he would go for the bait. It was the only idea I had to protect myself from Alaire’s unrelenting sexual advances. I had to buy some time to scheme anew.
Alaire was quiet for a few seconds as he digested everything I’d just said. His face went blank, probably to record all the answers my words provoked. Finally, he replied with, “Very well… I admit that I want you to give yourself to me willingly. Then—and only then—will I know I have truly won.”
“Then you need to learn a few serious lessons in the proper courtship of a woman,” I said with sincerity as I inwardly marveled over the beauty of my hastily conceived plan. I wasn’t sure how or why but somehow my impromptu ruse was working. “Because I will never come to you willingly if you treat me like chattel.”
Alaire slowly released a low laugh that boiled out of him like a dry cough. Then he stood up and crawled off me before starting for the door. He turned back and announced, “I will send someone to release you from your shackles… eventually.”
That’s when he left me. I was glad because I could finally consider how and when I would pay a visit to Tallis. I needed to learn everything there was to know about the warrior spirit residing inside me. Specifically, how I could free him.
“… that ungrateful and malignant race…”
- Dante’s Inferno
SIXTEEN
Lily
The next day, Alaire left the castle. Again, he claimed he had to tend to “business,” as he termed it. What he meant, I didn’t know and didn’t care to know right then. I was just glad that he was away, meaning, I could finally pay a much-needed visit to Tallis.
At the thought of seeing my bladesmith, my heart nearly began to sing. It had been far too long since I could gaze into those midnight blue eyes, and too long since I’d heard his deep, melancholy voice, and too long since I last touched him.
My heart hammered in my chest as I hurried down the hallway. The Watchers were out in full force but I did get to enjoy one of the few benefits of having Persephone’s memories. It was knowing which places they didn’t patrol as often. I could slip around them until I took the stairs to the first floor. Once I determined that Alaire’s surveillance mummies were mostly upstairs, I ran across the open expanse of stone floor until I reached the dark, wooden door that led to the dungeon. I pulled it open and waited for my eyesight to adjust to the sudden darkness once I crossed the threshold.
The door creaked as it closed behind me. I listened carefully for any signs of Alaire’s stooges but there was only dead silence. It made sense, I guess… Why would anyone look for trouble in the most secure and furthest floor of the castle? Once my eyes adjusted to the dark, I took the stairs that descended the prison quarters slowly, being careful not to trip…
I should also mention that I was wearing a long, skin-tight velvet outfit that could have once been found in Elvira’s closet. Ironically, it was one of the more conservative dresses that Persephone owned. But the slits on both thighs ran up all the way to my stomach. Given how revealing all her clothing was, I wondered why Persephone didn’t just prefer to go without clothes altogether.
When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I darted forward, being careful to avoid seeing any Watchers. As soon as I took a step forward, though, I was repelled by something, a barricade of sorts. I fell backwards, landing on my butt,before I could right myself against the stairwell wall. Shaking my head to clear the shock that ran through it, I stared straight ahead but saw nothing that could explain why I just felt like I’d run headlong into another wall.
I stood up and started forward again, holding my hands out in front of me like a mime on the streets of Paris. And that was when I touched it. Beneath my fingertips, the invisible barrier felt like plastic. A large sheet of it seemed to cover the whole entrance. Keeping my fingers on the invisible barrier, I traced it to the ground and then up again, as far as I could reach when I was on my tiptoes. Whatever barricade this was, it was invisible to the naked eye and completely impenetrable to my current resources.
“Tallis,” I called out, suddenly afraid for his safety. “Are you there?”
“Aye, lass,” he responded immediately. “Are ye well?”
“I can’t come in to see you!” I responded. “There’s an invisible wall in the way.”
“Aye,” Tallis answered in a tone that told me he wasn’t surprised. “Alaire moost have warded the passage.”
“Warded the passage?”
“Aye, he set up a barrier tae keep oos apart,” he explained. “Cannae say that Ah am surprised.”
Renewed anger suddenly shot through my body, and I had to take a few breaths to cool it down again. “Alaire,” I whispered. I hated the way his name sounded coming from my mouth. But not nearly as much as I hated the impenetrable barrier he’d erected between me and the man I loved.
“Are ye well, lass?” Tallis called out. “Has he hurt ye?”
I didn’t want him to worry but I also didn’t want to lie to him. So I figured I’d answer as benignly as I could. “I’m okay,” I said. “Has he been down here to visit you?” After the interrogation in the bedroom, I seriously worried how Alaire might funnel his anger over my persistent attachment to Tallis.
“Aye,” Tallis answered, his voice sounding just as strong as it did a moment ago.
“Why?”
“He had questions regardin’ the runes ye bear on yer forearm,” Tallis answered. “Questions rega
rdin’ Donnchadh only Ah can answer.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. I feared Tallis had been abused at the hands of Alaire. “I’ve come for the same reason,” I said, breathing out deeply. “Tallis, I need to understand how these runes work. I have to learn how to control Donnchadh so I will know how to release him.”
***
My heels clicked on the stone floor and I started to pick up the pace as I passed door after door in the hallway of the castle, making my way to the double doors that led outside. Occasionally, a Watcher gave me a curious stare as I passed but I refused to think about that right then. My mind was a veritable battleground of thoughts and worries colliding with each other until I wanted to scream. My heart was pounding and my nerves were fully stimulated. I could feel the rush of blood as it flushed my fair, pale skin.
Everything Tallis told me about the runes on my forearm as well as Donnchadh in general continued to race through my head. I was scared to death that I would forget something or possibly confuse what Tallis told me and wind up doing what I needed to incorrectly. But each time I replayed the memory of Tallis explaining the runes, I realized there was nothing to confuse. He’d been crystal clear in his explanation and I understood every last detail he said.
I approached the small gate and ran through the plan in my mind for the nth time. It wasn’t too complicated, no more than Tallis’s instructions. It just relied on a few things going exactly the way they should when I needed them to. No biggie, right?
First, I had to get one of the Furies to help me. That represented obstacle number one. Of course I remembered Tallis’s utter mortification upon hearing that I even tried to recruit a Fury to help me in the first place. And, yes, despite his reaction, I had to revisit that plan again if only because it was the only feasible one I had. However dangerous they were, the Furies were the only creatures strong enough to transport all three of us away from this abominable hellhole. Without the help of at least one of them, we would slowly rot in this prison with absolutely no hope for escape.
