Chapter 47

A culeus tutted, already reveling in his nearing victory.

"You've always been special to me, Skrain," he crooned. "No other mortal soul I've tasted has your endurance, your talent for delicious suffering. They all buckle and break, destroying themselves sooner or later. But you're different. Once I have your soul captured in that wonderful gem your wife created for me, I'll be more powerful than I have ever been. You will nourish and entertain me for millennia."

Skrain's head snapped to me. He sputtered, struggling to compose himself. " You … you're truly in league with him ?" His jaw dropped, eyes dimming with sorrow and hostility.

He played his role brilliantly. So brilliantly, I thought my heart was going to explode.

I scoffed. "What? Did you seriously think I could ever love someone as wicked and twisted as you?"

With a growl, Skrain's brow furrowed, teeth baring into a feral grin. "You've betrayed the wrong man, bitch."

He tensed, the muscles on his back and biceps tightening under his tunic. A cry of fury surging from his throat, he yanked his arms apart.

Like rusted, weathered chains, the shackles crumbled, and his freed hand flicked toward me.

Agony pierced my chest. I barely had time to glance down and see the massive thorn sticking from my ribs like a stiletto dagger—when my legs gave out.

Skrain had promised his poison would act fast. Painless.

But as I looked to him, I would have accepted endless torment in exchange for one last glance at his face. Our gazes met, a flicker of grief in the depths of his eyes before he spun and threw himself at Aculeus.

The ground came closer, yet I didn't feel a thing when I met the stone. I tried to breathe, but my lungs refused. My eyes shuttered, the weight of my lids like iron gates. Emily's scream was delayed, sounding far away, fading further, just like the beat of my heart, drumming in my ears while?—

I couldn't speak, couldn't move. But I was moving, a rapid pulse beating in my chest, quick breaths expanding my ribs. And my eyes—no, not my eyes.

Not my chest.

Not my pulse.

Through someone ' s eyes, I watched Aculeus whip a thorny vine at Skrain, who dove out of the way. Lesions littered my husband's body, verdant blood oozing from cuts beneath his ripped tunic and trousers. He was panting, loosened hair falling from his ponytail and sticking to his forehead, green trickling from his nose over his mouth, down his chin.

Skrain was fighting a losing battle.

How long had I been gone and where the Hells was I?

"You damned fool! You ruined everything!" Aculeus howled, striking out again.

Skrain narrowly avoided the lash, coming to a skidding halt a few steps away.

"Did you think I wouldn't kill Keryssa because I loved her? Seems you don't know me that well after all. Nobody gets away with betraying me," Skrain shouted, a note of triumph in his voice as he flung his arms above his head, vines twirling. They shot out, surging right through the shadows forming the demon's body.

I knew he couldn't harm Aculeus, but seeing it happen, seeing my husband bleed and suffer, helpless—I couldn't bear it.

The demon let out a dark laugh, skulking toward Skrain who backed away, inching closer and closer to the hidden ritual circle.

"You took my feeding ground, Skrain. Your stupid revolt in the mines ruined me. So much suffering to feed on, so many miserable souls perishing every day," Aculeus said, the sound of a smile in his voice. "And in turn, I ruined you."

Skrain stumbled, the same genuine confusion I felt crossing his face, too.

"You're lying, demon," he brought out.

Aculeus snarled, shaking his head. "You stupid little man. This one time I will tell you the truth. Then you can live out your last mortal moments in anguish, knowing that I, the one who saved you from death, the one who helped you build your empire and brought back your beloved is the one who destroyed your life."

Skrain's jaw slackened, and so did his vines. "Everything you've done … it was about revenge? You've planned this from the start?"

"Did you think it was pure chance I was there to offer you aid when you tried to kill yourself like a coward? Oh no, no." Aculeus snickered, enraptured in his self-aggrandizing speech. "And a mortal could've never avoided the guard patrols around your estate. It was me who helped Ytzal to get inside, brought him right into your house to murder your sweet wife and burn down everything you cared about."

Terror jolted through me. Aculeus had pulled the strings for over a century, made us dance for him like dolls.

Skrain stood frozen, gawking. "You've manipulated me all this time. You had Kerys killed," he said, tone flat. "And now you've come to collect your final reward."

I raged against the invisible prison holding me, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't lift a limb, couldn't utter a word.

"Isn't it spectacular?" Aculeus threw his head back, arms spreading. "I am quite proud of myself. And then, after you and I made our deal, I kept Keryssa's soul hidden in the Hells, just so you would search for her in vain. In the meantime, I helped you eliminate your business rivals, rebuild your wealth. Until, of course, I wanted you to find her in that filthy brothel."

Skrain let out a mad laugh, striking at the demon once more without effect. "I get it. You assisted me and brought us together again, just so you could break me!"

"Indeed. Taking away your capacity to love, to feel happy was—how do you mortals say? The cherry on top? I knew it would make your emotions spiral out of control when you met her again, and you'd suffer worse for it," Aculeus said. "Initially, I had hoped Lara would do a better job, but even with my assistance, she was useless. When you managed to save Keryssa, I settled on the long game."

Skrain regained his composure and grinned. "You did a sloppy job hiding your involvement with Lara. Emily found traces of your magic. That part I knew all along!"

Aculeus let out a bored huff. "And yet you failed to stop me. Yet you failed to save your wife or yourself. The entire time, you played right into my hands.

"You see, when you brought her back to this despicable desert, I only planned to make her believe you killed her, hoping she'd never forgive you and it would break your heart. But when I saw her memory of the soulstone, I grasped the opportunity for something better than that. I realized I could use Keryssa."

Frost speared through me at the demon's words. I hated myself for falling for such an obvious ploy.

"All I had to do was convince her that she wanted revenge, exploit her anger, and subtly steer the conversation toward the stone," Aculeus continued. "I knew if I made her bring it up by herself, she'd never suspect I glimpsed her vision and manipulated it."

He sauntered toward Skrain. For the moment, he'd stopped attacking, secure in his arrogance and focusing on his grand speech. He knew he was going to win.

Panic engulfed me. I wanted out. Away. To help. Save Skrain. Anything, just not being stuck here, as-as?—

Stay calm, Emily's voice sounded from all around me. I know you're confused by the gaps in your memory. This is a terrifying experience for you, but if you want me to put your soul back where it belongs, you must trust me. Once-dead souls are difficult to capture, Kerys. I almost didn't catch you, even with the blood bond. We don't have much time. Don't resist. Skrain would kill me if I lost you—or Gods forbid—you got stuck in my body.

Emily. The blood covenant we formed in her lab. I remembered. How could I have forgotten?

When my— her gaze fell to my corpse, I wanted to scream. I laid pale and unmoving, no breath raising my chest.

For the second time, I was dead, and it was no less horrifying.

The antidote I injected you with should have neutralized Skrain's poison by now , I heard Emily again. And not one moment too soon. I don't think your husband can hold out much longer . I need you to focus your intent. Imagine a tether from me to your body, like a thread. I'll try to push you back now .

The heat of magic filled me, her power entirely unlike my own. Her spell was a force of nature, though not like rain or the tide. It was as dark as a cloudy night and as forceful as a monsoon yet controlled like a whirlpool in a teacup.

I tried to do as she instructed, tried to concentrate …

Nothing happened.

Focus harder, Kerys. I can't do this without your help . Remember what it's like to feel wind in your hair or a splash of cold water on your face. Even what it's like to hurt, a cut, a bruise. Anything. You must connect yourself to your body .

I couldn't remember. It couldn't have been more than a few minutes since my death, but I couldn't remember what it was like to have a physical form. Had I ever felt the breeze on my skin? A gash in my flesh?

Hadn't I always been like this? Untethered? Formless?

But there was one thought burning in my soul, bright as the sun and clear as the cloudless sky.

Skrain.

My husband .

His touch. How his hands slid along my waist, drawing goose bumps across my skin. The pressure of his arms around my chest when he held me.

A shimmering red string of wavering energy appeared between Emily and my body.

Good, very good . Whatever you're doing, it's working , I heard Emily say. Almost there. Just a little more .

I thought of Skrain's soft lips, pressed to mine. The taste of tobacco on his tongue and?—

The world spun. My vision swam.

It felt like I'd been thrown off a horse, kicked in the head by its hooves on the way down. Oh, by the Creators, my skull ached.

The first breath hurt, my lungs on fire. My muscles were stiff, even the flex of a finger taking the effort of moving a mountain.

But I was me again. Alive. With every twitch, with every gasp, my mobility returned.

My eyes flicked to Skrain. He'd sustained a slash on his cheek, his right arm twisted, hanging limp.

How much more time had passed?

Aculeus gouged his thigh with a shadow vine, shimmering with green essence as it retreated. Skrain stumbled, healthy arm reaching to press on the new wound.

"With Kerys dead, you'll never get to use the soulstone on me. How that must sting!" Skrain laughed, coughing up blood. "The great Aculeus's plan, so carefully curated and yet ruined by a puny mortal he couldn't control. Pathetic!"

The demon growled. "You were my puppet for a century, and now the time has come to cut your strings. I might not get to keep your soul for eternity, but I'll enjoy tearing your weak flesh apart before I devour all that's left of you."

Aculeus shot forward. Arm rearing back, with an ear-shattering howl, he barreled into Skrain.

They fell, tumbling across the ground, a ball of shadows and vines and thorns and emerald blood, but as they came to a halt, green runes glowed to life around them.