by Ward, H. M.
And I struck up a blood bargain with her. Of course, I did. It made perfect sense. It sounded totally rational in my mind when I did it, but now, now in the light of day—it was insane! I took the word of a demon over the word of an angel.
I jumped up. Apryl watched me. The expressions shifting across my face had started rather calmly compared to what I was feeling now. I clutched my head, “This can’t be happening. It can’t be. I never left, right?” I turned sharply to Apryl who stood behind me, not knowing what to do or what was wrong.
She shook her head. “No, you didn’t leave. What’s the matter?” I didn’t answer her. I couldn’t say it. I couldn’t admit it. I continued to pace until she stepped in front of me. Her green eyes were wide like two big green dinner plates. “Stop.” She put her hands on my shoulders. I froze and looked at her. “What happened?”
My jaw opened and I meant to speak, but nothing came out. The words, blood bargain rang in my mind. The sound of my heart pumping seemed so loud. Apryl didn’t release me, so I stood there until words formed. My mouth felt stiff, like it was made of wood. My lips wouldn’t form words, they couldn’t. But Apryl wouldn’t let go, and I didn’t want her to. I wanted my sister. I wanted my life back.
Swallowing hard, I told her. “While I slept, I had a vision. And… I made a blood bargain with a demon.” I pressed my lips together, fearful to say more. Apryl’s mouth dropped open as her grip on my shoulders slipped. She took a step back. Her horror only made it worse. I added, “I had to. There was no other choice… There never is.”
I folded my arms over my chest and pulled them tightly to my body. I never thought my inability to call light would lead to something like this. I shook my head, knowing that wasn’t true. That wasn’t what made the blood bargain—it was me. I did it. Willingly. I pressed the palms of my hands to my face and rubbed, as I walked away from Apryl.
“What do you owe the demon?” she asked hesitantly. I couldn’t bear to look at her. She might not remember me, but I remembered her. The lines carved between her crinkled brow deepened as she waited for my answer. Her fingers twitched subtly at her sides.
My eyes cut to her worried face. There was no denying it. I had to tell her. “An angel. I promised a payment of a living angel. And if I default, I die.”
Apryl’s mouth opened in horror. “Do you know what you did? Do you know what you offered?” She smacked me with two hands, in rapid succession, one after the other on either side of my head. I didn’t block her smacks. She leaned into my downturned face, asking, “How the hell are you going to bring an angel to the Underworld? That demon set you up. You will default on that bargain. There is no way to get an angel into the demon realm alive! You can’t put a bow on him, and drop him off at the demon’s doorstep. The demon asked for a payment you couldn’t possibly provide. What the hell were you thinking?” She slapped me again, but this time I grabbed her hand. Glaring at her, my hand tightened around her wrist. She shook with anger as she hissed, “You gave your crown to someone else. You made a bargain you cannot keep.” I released her hand and it fell to her side like a piece of dead wood.
She turned from me, and wrapped her arms around her middle. It was something our mother did when she was worried. She’d walk a few steps, turn, and repeat—all while keeping her arms folded snugly across her body. We both had the same mannerism. I nearly choked as I watched her. My mother would have… I shook my head, dislodging the thought. I had no idea what my mother would have done. Both of her daughters had demon blood flowing through their veins. That was different than any life she would have imagined for us. I blinked away the thoughts.
Something Apryl said made me pause. I spoke quickly, sensing she was ready to walk away from me. “Why can’t an angel enter Hell? They took it over during one of the wars. They were down there once before, right?” Lorren was down there. He was an angel, right? That was why I thought I could bring one to the Demon Princess. Because of him.
She looked over her shoulder at me. Her eyes were glassy. Apryl’s lips turned into a thin line as she fought to control her emotions. She laughed softly, “You don’t understand.” She turned towards me, arms still folded across her chest. “When you kill Kreturus there would have been peace. You had no intention of attacking the angels. But not now,” she shook as she spoke. “Now you will drag an offering to the demon who helped you. That’s clearly an attack. And they will reciprocate if you force one of their kind down there. The Guardian was left there so the angels could leave. Their kind doesn’t take well to the Underworld. It… Affects them oddly.
“Ivy, if you fail to complete your bargain, then you’ll die. That demon that struck the bargain with you, will steal your crown, and I have no doubt that an angel attack would follow. The angels would never see it coming. They would have had peace with you, but then you die when the blood bargain takes effect. There will be war no matter what you do. There will never be peace. There will never be rest.”
Her jaw hung open, as her chest constricted. She looked up at me with her eyes creased in the corners, “I will never be free. I will never die, because the Valefar will not be released.” I opened my mouth to speak, but she cut me off. “No! You listen and you listen well. You had no more time for mistakes. There were no more chances to waste.” She shook her head, looking at me with complete disgust. “You could have walked away. You could have said no. A blood bargain is willingly entered into by both sides. You chose this.” She shook her head, making her dark auburn hair brush against her cheek, and turned away.
I watched her leave without calling after her. As Apryl pulled open the door the morning sun drenched her in golden light. Her dark hair looked like it was on fire, as she hesitated in the doorway. She stood there for a moment. My breath caught in my throat. Apryl didn’t act like a Valefar. She wasn’t full of vengeance like Eric. She wasn’t deceitful like Jake. She seemed to find her own path and stuck to it. The only life she’d known was torn away when the Pool of Lost Souls was attacked. The Guardian was dead for all I knew, just like the sister I’d grown up with. But this Apryl, the one that was walking away scared me. She saw through me, unmasking things fast and furious. She was helpful. And for some reason, she was on my side—until now—until I did something that was unforgivable. I watched her pause in the doorway, waiting to see if she would look over her shoulder, but she didn’t. Apryl took a step forward, and the door closed behind her leaving me alone in the darkness.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Days passed. The sun swept across the sky, and sank into the sea every night. But Apryl did not return. Nor did I expect her to. I saw the look on her face. I failed her. She was trapped, and I wasn’t the one who could free her. I couldn’t even free myself. As time passed, I no longer worried about the Guardian’s death. He had to be alive down there, otherwise the world would be overrun with hellish creatures. Since there were no demons running through the streets, I thought we were okay. My visions came and went. They turned into tutorials—lessons on how to harness my dark powers. Locoicia pulled me through every vision, every time. There was no rest. The venom in my chest didn’t weaken me as it had, but it still took a toll. And the Demon Princess was irritated if I didn’t show my face once a day. She said there was no time. And there wasn’t.
Her black cowl covered her face, as always. “Do it again.” Her words were cold. The dark gauzy fabric of the gown clung to her, showing off her slender form. Dark gloves lined her slender fingers, resting on top of her folded arms, gently tapping as her eyes cut into me.
The things she was asking me to do weren’t innate. The acts weren’t something that I wanted to know how to do. I had no desire to learn to do them, but I needed to know. Locoicia said it was necessary, and I bargained to learn everything. Everything without exception. As our lessons continued, I realized the insanity of that request. What was even weirder was her willingness to accept the bargain, and teach me. It made me wonder who was crazier. Her? Or me?
I quickly learned th
at immense power coursed through my veins, and that I could command it with simple words or gestures. The dark magic felt heavy and thick, like hot fudge clinging to my insides. The first time I recognized the sensation, I was shocked to realize exactly how much power I had. It was power that Apryl lacked. It was power that Kreturus wanted. Locoicia explained that demons have limited abilities, as do angels—but me… I was different. I was a hybrid of both races, which gave me more power than all of them. I just had no idea how to use it. It turns out my power manifested during my enraged fits, because I was tapping into the same place within me, calling on the same power source to fuel my burning anger. Apparently, I didn’t have to risk turning into a demon to use my power. There was no need to tap into my ability to Akayleah. And no reason to tell her I even had that ability. Or that I’d already used it. After all, I never promised to divulge everything.
So, Locoicia taught me. She was impatient, demanding, and expected me to learn things the first time with no questions asked. I didn’t like her, which was fine because the feeling was mutual. I could tell. She’d fumed away, trapped in a piece of glass forever, irritated. Meanwhile, I was the one who was going to do what she couldn’t—kill the demon king. It wasn’t that I was stupid, or a slow learner. I grasped proficiency of her lessons quickly. It was the depth of my mastery that made her fume. We skipped straight from beginner to advanced during the same lesson. And I didn’t like the advanced applications. My stomach twisted just thinking about it.
But, she didn’t give me time to think. Locoicia’s teaching methods were sink or swim. I sputtered along half sinking, until I got it. And when I failed, I felt the brunt of her power.
The lesson she was teaching me wasn’t going well. A sharp pain pierced my thoughts and slid down my spine. Concentrate, I scolded myself. Locoicia pressed into my mind, forcing me to maintain my focus in order to keep her out. Her attempts to slip into my mind made it difficult to consider what I was doing. The moral implications didn’t have time to emerge in my mind. She would mentally berate me as I tried to accomplish the task she gave. I was much stronger than she was, but she was more resourceful and more skilled.
It wasn’t her power that made Locoicia dangerous. It was the way in which she used it.
Darkness flowed through me thick and hot until a seam on the forearm of her gown split opened. Locoicia’s blood was black as tar and flowed from the wound. I stopped, and the severed skin closed immediately. The Demon Princess smoothed her hand over her torn garment and the threads retied themselves into proper stitches. I did what she wanted. I tore open her arm in one controlled slice.
“And the price?” I asked.
She looked over her shoulder at me. The flesh on her forearms was pale with tiny black spots—demon scales. Was she human or demon? Or a human turned demon from too much Akayleah? Locoicia had more power than she let on. She responded promptly, “Pain, of course.”
The moment she said it, it felt like my stomach was ripped from my body. In one swift moment the air was stripped away and replaced with searing pain. When the instant passed, I realized I was clutching my gut and had started to turn inward to try to ease to deal with it.
She flicked her wrist, as if she were holding an imaginary whip, and a small red line appeared on my left hand. It stung for half a second before the skin was sliced opened. I winced, and she was next to me in a second hissing in my ear. “I will cover every last bit of you in lashes, if you fail to hide your pain from me again. Pain is weakness.” She moved away. “Everyone pays the price. Only the weak acknowledge pain. You will not be weak. You will recognize the pain, but you will not feel it. You will feel nothing. Do you understand?” I nodded. In theory, I understood perfectly. Hide my pain. In practice? Well, that was another issue. She said, “Again.”
We worked for hours until I was so tired, I couldn’t see straight. She managed to get into my mind more than once. That scared me the most, which almost seems funny. Calling forth dark powers didn’t scare me. Slicing open the Demon Princess’ skin or scales or whatever she had didn’t faze me. But, the thought of her perusing my mind—the thought of her seeing bits of my shattered life was non-negotiable. It made me fight harder to keep her out. I had no idea what she was capable of, but I wouldn’t underestimate her. Kreturus did that and look what happened—she was alive and training his assassin.
The lesson shifted. We were learning something else. Locoicia walked next to me, leaning over my shoulder. I was barely able to stand. The lessons did not have a power price, like they did for most. But they still exhausted me. A human body could only endure so much pain. There was a point of no return. If I passed it, if she mis-estimated my pain threshold, I’d die. My body felt stiff, no longer wanting to bend as I moved. I ignored it.
Locoicia insisted that I learn standing up. So I stood, with my feet apart and my hands at my sides. She said, “Reach into your pocket. There will be whatever you need—a key, coin, or gold. Riches are all within your reach, now. Simply do as I say, and extract them.” She explained the charm once. There was no repetition in her lessons—no wasted words. If I didn’t glean everything from her meager verbiage, she became angry.
Nodding, I did as she said, and reached into my pocket. At first there was nothing there, just the rough cotton lining of the pocket between my fingers. But a different sensation brushed against me, and I felt the paper bills form in my hand. I pulled the money out of my pocket and put it on the table, in front of Locoicia. That was incredibly easy. I stared at the paper bills, somewhat shocked.
There was no more time to fathom the cash on the table. Or ask if it was real, fake, or where it came from. The pain price hit me half a second later. It felt like I was being cut from neck to navel. The feeling of the knife slicing through skin and muscles, until it stopped in my stomach, was real. Horror washed over me. My hands pressed on my abdomen, frantically searching for the weapon that caused the sensation. My fingers twitched, as I curled forward, cradling my body from the onslaught of pain. The blade, the blade I couldn’t see, lodged in my stomach and slid up to my neck leaving a hot stream in its wake. My hands were pressing on me, following the trail of agony up to my throat, but when I pulled my palms away there wasn’t a speck of blood on them. Terror made my voice ring out. My hands clutched my stomach, but there was no wound. The pain was completely internal. Unable to bear another moment, I felt my body dry heave. Everything inside me curdled and came out my mouth, and onto the floor.
Locoicia showed no compassion. Gasping for breath, my bare hands clutched the stone beneath my fingers until the spasms that raked my stomach stopped. When I looked up at the hooded figure, her violet eyes were calm. There wasn’t an ounce of anger within their depths. Without a word, she crooked her finger, and flicked her wrist. A welt the size of her fist ripped down my spine. My back arched in response, as a cry ripped out of my throat. The pain intensified as I felt a warm trail of blood run down my skin, and stick to my shirt. I bit back a second scream as the sting dug deep into my muscles and more blood spilled from the wound. Failing to remain still, utterly failing not to flinch, my jaw opened and a ragged breath contorted with pain emerged. The sound of my raw scream echoed through the room. Horrified, I clutched my sides, unable to reach my back. Unable to see or feel with my hands what she had done to me. I didn’t know if it was real or only in my mind.
My heart beat wildly, as I looked up at the Demon Princess. Blood red lips were pulled into a tight thin line. Indigo eyes were cold and merciless. She stepped toward me, one horrifying step at a time, until she stood over me. Her black skirt billowed at her feet. I broke my gaze and lowered my head, looking at her shiny black boot. Fear coursed through me, rushing through my veins in a deafening thunder. Fear surpassed the agony of flesh torn open on my spine. I was silent.
She didn’t bend over. She didn’t speak kindly in my ear. Her voice was passionless, “You will learn. And I will teach you.” Her boot scraped back, away from me. She flicked her wrist, and the p
rocess began again.
Flick by flick, she covered my body in lashes. By design, they tore open skin slowly, cutting through muscle, and nicking the bone. Every inch of me wanted to scream out and make it stop, but I didn’t. Another lash sliced across my back. And then another. My hands moved frantically, trying to stop her, but there was no stopping her. Locoicia wanted me numb. And as long as I still felt my skin tearing apart she would not stop. Desperately, I tried to bite back pain, but it wasn’t enough. It was never enough. There was no reprieve. There was no rest. Lash after lash fell on me. Eventually, I could no longer stand. My cheek pressed against the cold stone floor, lying where I fell. Locoicia’s wrist flicked, again and again. She didn’t stop until I didn’t scream. She tormented me until I failed to flinch, until I was near dead by her feet.
My heart beat faintly in my ears. I felt nothing—not the pumping of my heart. Not the cool air slipping down my throat as I breathed. The rocks beneath my head were neither cold nor hard. The sensations that they produced did not affect me. Lying on my side, I stared at nothing. My eyes no longer throbbed. My throat no longer burned from the frantic screams that I bellowed. There was nothing. Numbness flooded every inch of me, cancelling out the pain that had been screaming in my mind for hours. The open flesh covering my body did not pain me. The blood seeping through my shirt was a fact, not a sensation. Strips of open flesh lined my back, and wrapped around my torso. Blood pooled underneath me, clinging to my waist and seeping through my shirt. My hair was tangled and bloody. There wasn’t an inch of flesh that she didn’t rip open. There wasn’t any part of me that she didn’t torment.
