by M. R. Polish
He jumped down from the table and walked to the window. “Every night I would meet her. Let her know I was still alive and that I wasn’t giving up. What she didn’t know was that I was slowly growing powerless until I could no longer even do that.” He straightened his posture. “Meadow has a hard time with magic, but she was able to get through to her a couple times. Enough to let Esmerelda know I’m still here.”
“You look fine now,” I barely managed to get out. His last zap of magic left me drained of everything but consciousness.
“I am getting better. I was so bad, that I knew I was dying. So, I made a deal.”
The world stopped as recognition hit me—hard. The lady I fought with when helping Ailaina escape was from the Underworld. “You made a deal with the Death Keeper.”
His chuckle made me jump, sounding so loud in the small room. “I did, and now Esmerelda will pay for almost killing me. I no longer have a need for her blood to make my crossbreeds. Hell, I have no reason to make them anymore. I got everything I needed in my deal. I should’ve just done that in the first place, but you just don’t think the same when you’re dying.”
My heart thumped radically against my chest. “What did you give up for your end of the deal?”
He laughed harder. “That was the great part. It seems the Death Keeper will kill Esmerelda for me. I got everything I wanted in one deal and all I had to do was give him my soul.” He gave a wicked grin. “I am playing with the idea of having Esmerelda come here. I’d like to have a little fun before she dies. It could be fun torturing her and watching her dwindle to nothing without her wolf. It’s gonna be sweet music when she whimpers with no strength and begs me to stop.”
I couldn’t stop the sick twisted feeling in my stomach from bubbling in my throat. I searched for any reserved energy to fight him, to stop him from hurting Es, but I couldn’t move.
He dropped down lower on his heels to look me in the face. “Kinda like you right now. It will only get worse. Wait for the intense ripping pain in your chest, that’s when you know that your beloved wolf is dead. They can’t take the separation either. After that, it’s only a matter of time.” He stood to leave.
“You,” I whispered, “still won’t win.”
He opened the door. “I already have. I’ll have Raya come move you to a more suitable room downstairs. Now, excuse me, I have a dream date that I don’t want to be late for. It’s been too long since I’ve seen my precious witch.” The door slammed behind him and all I could do was pray that Esmerelda was safe—and that my brother would keep her that way.
Thirteen
Esmerelda
I couldn’t stifle the yawn as we opened the door to the hotel room. It had been an exhausting day, not to mention that I was still trying to recover from being sleep deprived.
Ian dropped our bag on the second bed. I was so sick of hotels already. I wanted home. A real home with my own bed. It’d been so long since I’ve had my own bed.
Thoughts of my own little apartment in Nevada made me smile.
Life before the crazy.
Ian stripped off his shirt. I had to admit the view was amazing. I wanted to run my hands over the taut muscles in his back. All thoughts of life before I found out I had magic disappeared, because that was all life before Ian—and that’s something I didn’t want to think of.
“Caught you staring,” he said with a cocky grin.
I picked up a pillow from the bed and threw it at him. “Oh, shut up. I wasn’t staring, I was, uh, yeah I was checking you out.”
He sauntered to me, throwing his shirt on the bed. “Really? Well, Princess, I see your shirt and raise you a pair of jeans.” He grabbed the waist of my pants.
His nearness clouded my mind and everything but him faded away. How long had it been since we were together in my dream? His hot breath heated my cheek as he whispered something against my skin. Too long—it had been too long since that dream.
I laid in Ian’s arms, completely aware of his feather-light touch as he stroked my shoulder. Warmth spread through me like fire and I knew that I couldn’t live without him. It was strange to think that. I laid there and continued to feel emotions sweep over me, like they came from Ian and straight into my soul. Worry, fear, confidence, desire, elation, and love, were the ones I felt the most. The desire and love lifted my heart and I replicated those feelings. If they truly came from him, maybe I could let him feel what I felt too? I raised his free hand to my mouth and kissed it, hoping that this moment would never end.
My eyes were heavy and wanted to close badly, but I didn’t want to fall asleep and not be consciously with Ian. I didn’t want to leave him in any way. I wasn’t sure why I had all these thoughts all of a sudden. Maybe I was just scared to sleep? I hadn’t had any visits from Nicholas or Meadow the last couple times I slept, but it still scared me every time I got tired. I finally let my eyes close and succumbed to sleep.
At first, everything was dark—too dark. I blinked several times trying to make sense of my dream. Seriously, why couldn’t I have a normal dream for once? A thick fog rolled across the ground and over my feet. A loud screech echoed in the sky. I looked up trying to see what could cause such a sound. A pulsating vibration echoed in my head like a heartbeat rhythmically coming from the ground itself. I refused to move, not knowing what waited for me. This was obviously not a dream of my doing. I would never dream something so creepy intentionally.
“It’s been too long, Esmerelda.”
My blood froze as soon as I heard his voice. I turned slowly on my heel. “Nicholas, I see you’re still alive.”
“You might think you can get rid of me, but…” He walked closer to me, close enough I could smell his rancid breath. “But you can’t. You see, I’ve made a deal, one that not even you can break. It’s not like before, bringing the witches back from their graves to save yourself and those around you. Which, by the way, thank you. Not sure I have properly thanked you before. Julie has always been sort of a pet, but she is really outdoing herself this time. I might even keep her around.”
I chose to ignore him about Julie, but I wouldn’t forget. “What do you mean it’s not the same?”
He ambled around me with his hands folded behind his back. His usual black trench coat made the fog come up in wisps around us. “Oh, Esmerelda, how I have missed these dreams of yours. Maybe we should shed some light on the subject, shall we?”
He brought his hands forward and together with only his fingertips touching, then lifted them above his head. The higher he raised his hands, the brighter my dream became.
My breathing hitched and my stomach churned viciously. This wasn’t a dream, it was a nightmare—it was death. Coal-black rocks protruded from the fog-covered ground, making me look down to see what I actually stood on. Even the sky was gray and filled with smoke. The overpowering smell of sulfur filled my nose. I tried desperately to breathe through my mouth, but I could taste the horrible rotten scent that burned my throat. Dark shadows crawled unnaturally over the rocks and hissed at me as they lifted their heads, or at least I thought it was their heads. Instantly, I remembered the feel of them as they had once covered me when Nicholas held me in the deep pits of his underground cell.
“What is this place?” I asked as I continued to take in my surroundings.
“Well, since I am feeling better, I thought I’d show you a bit of where I can take you while you slept. This is a pit of despair in the Underworld. There are many pits and levels, different types of pain to suffer.” He looked around with a smile on his face. “And you, my dear, will get to enjoy them all.”
“You’re sick and twisted,” I said with as much bravado I could muster, but secretly, my heart raced with his words. Surely I wouldn’t have to endure any levels of pain trapped in my own dreams. Would I? My whole body tensed when I thought about the fact that he could be talking about real life, not dreams.
He grinned wider. “I told you, I made a deal.”
I swallowed hard, and
a shiver traveled through by body despite the heat that surrounded us. “What deal was that? You didn’t have a soul to sell.”
He lost his smile, only to replace it with a scowl. Obviously I touched a sore subject. “You don’t know anything about me. What I’ve been through to get where I am, why I do what I do, or even why I made a deal with the Death Keeper.”
I threw my hands in the air. “Then why don’t you explain it to me?”
He chortled a little. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Make it easier for you to plot against me.” Shaking his head, he lifted his fingers to stroke the side of my face. “No. The only thing I’m gonna tell you tonight is, sweet dreams.” He gave me a sinister smile then faded into the air.
I let my hands drop, slapping against my hips. “Great.” I looked around in disgust. The smell of the sulfur had definitely gotten stronger since I first got there. I twirled in a circle, noting at least twenty of those creepy shadowy things that surrounded me.
“I suppose you’re the ones waiting to inflict the pain and despair on me, huh?” I exhaled a long, loud breath. I wasn’t gonna go down without a fight. This was my dream; nightmare or not, I would fight back.
I felt the familiar sizzle in my palms as my magic raced to the surface. I smiled. Thankfully my magic worked in the hellhole. The sky darkened even more as the thunder clouds moved in, pushing the smoke away. The two elements I had the most control over were definitely ones Mother Nature would be proud of—Earth and Air. The ground rumbled as a loud crack sounded across the sky. Where I stood was steady and unmoving, but all around the tall rocks tumbled and fell into pieces as the ground opened up, revealing the depths of the Underworld Nicholas brought me to.
The black shadows screeched and scattered in every direction, but I didn’t let up. I pushed harder. If Nicholas thought by bringing me here I would suffer and give up, he was seriously mistaken. Black creatures flew up from the deep pits and circled in the air above me like dragons. Even from where I stood, I could see their eyes were flames.
My heart raced fiercely.
Their long silk-like wings spread out as they flew higher, their breath parting my storm clouds.
I pushed harder, enveloping them into the storm. Lightning split the sky, hitting the ground with a loud crack. Heat from a fire the lightning created rose up around me; and even my eyes burned as I watched the creatures fight against my powers, flapping their wings and screaming out against the electrical current that swept through the clouds.
The wind picked up and blew my hair all around my face. Fire spit up from the ground around me like geysers.
“Very good. Even I’m impressed,” a sultry voice said behind me. I jumped and twisted to see a tall man with black hair and gray eyes that had streaks of red swimming through his irises, staring at me. He stood with his hands tucked into his front pant pockets. He wore a red shirt under a black jacket and his pants just as dark. I couldn’t deny how attractive he looked, even though my inner voice told me he was trouble. An evil kind of trouble.
“Who are you? What are you doing here?” I let my hands fall to my hips, but kept the storm brewing in the distance.
He let his bottom lip come out a bit as he nodded. “Well, I live here.”
“Voluntarily?” I gulped. Yeah, he was definitely trouble. Okay, think, Es, think. What would Ian tell me to do right now? Probably, run.
He smiled, but it made his eyes turn a deeper red, like fire coursed through him. “Yes.”
“Who are you?” I repeated.
“I’m Davin. I am the Death Keeper.”
Oh crap.
I wanted to wake up—now! I closed my eyes and begged my body to wake up, only to open them and still see Davin standing there with a smirk on his face. “That won’t work here. You will wake up, but not until we’ve talked.” He spread his arms out, surveying the damage I caused. “I have to say I am thoroughly impressed. I didn’t think you had enough power to carry over into my world—especially in your dreams. I might have to rethink my deal with Nicholas. I think you would prove to be of much more use alive, with me, than you would dead, to him.”
I stopped breathing. I was beginning to understand that no matter what, I was utterly screwed.
He tipped his head slightly. “Esmerelda, do you even know why Nicholas wants you dead?”
My mouth was too dry to answer. I shook my head.
“We should really go somewhere to talk.” He charmingly lifted his hand and our surroundings changed.
Raising my hands, I clutched my head as the world around me spun making me dizzy.
Red carpet covered the floors and the walls reached up forever to the extremely high ceiling. A massive fireplace filled a large portion of one wall with tall flames that licked the edges. A pool table, ready with balls racked on the green, sat in the middle of the room, and two high-back chairs sat facing each other near the fireplace. “Where are we?”
He grinned. “Home. Well, my home anyway. Maybe one day it will be yours too.”
I spoke through clenched teeth. “Never.”
He gave a half nod before walking to the pool table. “Do you play?”
“What? I thought you wanted to talk?” Seriously, I just wanted to wake up and never sleep again.
He grabbed a pool stick and rolled it on the top of the green felt of the table. “Exactly. Which is why I can’t allow you to wake up until we’ve talked.”
“You can read my thoughts?” Ugh, as if things couldn’t get any worse, I’m trapped with a mind reader.
He chuckled. “Well, yes and no. If you don’t block them, then they are just kind of there.”
“Oh. Good. How do I block them?”
He grabbed the chalk and began chalking the end of the stick. “Same way you opened up when you first learned how to use your magic. Remember when Victor taught you to help Meadow? Now that was quite the experience, wasn’t it.”
My heart raced at the memory. “Shut up. You don’t know anything about that.”
He raised a brow. “I don’t? Hmm, I suppose it could’ve been another Meadow who came to me to make a deal after years of being unable to break the spell Bry made. How do you think Victor found you? Jarak? Just one day they wind up in the small pit-hole town of Elko and mysteriously find you? I guess it could happen, but it didn’t.” He handed me the stick he just readied. I took it cautiously.
He reached up on the wall for another one in the rack and repeated the process of getting it ready. “You see, I have magic too. It’s a bit different than yours, but still magic.”
“Dark magic,” I whispered.
“It’s still magic. Besides, I can do things you can’t with yours. For example, I can exchange a soul to be my slave for eternity in return for something they want. Meadow asked to break free of Bry so she could return to her beloved Nicholas. So, I made it happen, but she never said how she wanted her freedom. However, my favorite deal right now has to be the one Nicholas just made with me.” He looked over at me and smiled.
“What did he want in exchange for his soul?” It came out barely audible, but I knew he heard because he chortled a little.
“You. He wanted you dead. Among a couple other things.” He walked around to the corner of the table. “Do you want to break?”
“Huh?” I had a hard time wrapping my head around everything that was going on and I didn’t have time to register what he was asking.
“Pool, the balls, do you want to break?” He motioned with his stick to the balls racked in the triangle.
“Really? You want to play pool, while you are talking about how you are gonna kill me, because some craphead made a deal with you? Are you insane?”
“Okay, I’ll take that as a no.” He removed the triangle and set it aside. Expertly, he positioned his stick and struck the white ball, breaking the colors all over the felt. He looked up with his eyes at me. “See, it’s not hard.”
I placed my hand on my hip. This was officially the worst dream ever. He stood up
and walked around the table to me. “Stripes or solids? I’ll let you choose.”
“You’re unbelievable. If I play, will you answer my questions?”
“I think that’s a great deal.” He gave me another grin and turned around.
“Oh no, not a deal, just a question. I’m not making any deals with you.”
“Not yet, anyway. Now, strips or solids?”
I looked at the table. I wasn’t exactly sure how to play, but the balls with stripes looked like more fun. I’d seen it done in the movies. It couldn’t be all that hard. “Stripes.”
He raised a brow. “Really? Okay.” He let out a long breath.
“Why? What’s wrong with stripes?”
“Nothing, just thought you were a solid kind of girl, not one to like two different colors.”
He was really getting under my skin and he knew it. “Okay, so what do I do?”
He laughed. “Well, that explains why you picked stripes.”
“It doesn’t explain anything. Just tell me what to do already so I can get outa here.”
He explained the whole game of pool then directed me to the easiest striped ball to get in the pocket before taking a step back. I hit the white ball, but it struck a stupid solid and knocked mine out of the way. “Okay, so while you beat me at pool, why don’t you finish telling me about Nicholas and his deal? How are you gonna kill me? Do I even have a way to fight it?”
He tipped his head side to side, examining the table. “Well, I haven’t decided the how yet. After seeing you with the Vengars and Horrors, I’m not sure I want to kill you. As I said before,” he paused to take his shot, sending his ball straight into the corner pocket, “I might have to rethink my deal with Nicholas. But, it all depends on you.”
