Chapter Four

ZARI

T hat night, Katarina and I met in a private room in one of the resort’s restaurants. One of Alexandru’s guards accompanied me, and I watched silently as he performed a spell that would ensure whatever Katarina and I spoke of in this room, no one would hear.

The guard walked back to us and held out an empty chalice.

Katarina reached down, and I blinked when she came up with a pocketknife. Where could she have hidden that, I wondered absently. She was dressed in a one-shouldered tight-fitting gown, and I hadn’t even seen the barest outline of a knife under the silk.

I had dressed for the occasion, too, but next to her and her C-cups, I looked more like a boy pretending to be a girl.

Katarina noticed my gaze on her knife. As if she sensed my curiosity, she explained, “I hid it in one of my shoes.”

I frowned.

“I literally step on it all the time.”

What?

Pulling the knife out of its sheath, she said, “This one, I use for ordinary stuff.” She pricked her finger with the tip of the blade and a drop of her blood fell into the chalice.

I gulped. This was ordinary stuff for her?

“The knife on my left foot, on the other hand, that’s for killing demons. Its blade is dipped with poison.” As she spoke, Katarina twirled the knife in her hand before handing it to me, with the blade pointed at her for my safety.

I hesitated. Who knew if she had used preternatural powers to trick me into thinking that this was the same knife?

“Lady Zari.” Katarina’s voice was gentle. “Do you truly believe your Master would ever like someone able to commit cold-blooded murder without just cause?”

I took the knife from her hand. Pricking myself made me suck in my breath, and I was shaking by the time the guard walked away with my blood. “Thank you,” I mumbled as I gave the blade back to her.

The guard completed the spell with our blood and bowed to us afterwards before leaving. When we were alone, Katarina asked, “Alexandru says you wanted to talk to me?”

Something about her voice made me look at her. She hadn’t been...as cold as this before, when we first met.

“Are you actually angry with me?”

Reaching for her wine, she asked lightly, “Why do you sound so shocked?”

I shrugged awkwardly. “Probably because, I dunno...maybe because you’re centuries old, I’m eighteen, and it’s like getting mad at a baby?”

She laughed. “Oh, Lady Zari. You of all people should know that love has the power to make children of us all. Brats really, with the way it can make us selfish, greedy, and...” Her voice lowered a notch. “ Shameless. ”

My cheeks burned at the subtle dig, but I didn’t deny it. I had been shameless in the way I had blown up on Alexandru, and I would only act more like a kid if I couldn’t make myself accept that.

I said stiffly, “That’s not what I want to talk about.”

“I know.”

Again, she surprised me. “Y-you do?”

She nodded. “It’s been clear to me from the first day that you’re the type who dislikes confrontations.”

I tried not to grimace.

“You’re the type who’d rather suffer in silence than admit someone’s hurt you.”

“Congratulations then,” I said flatly. “You’ve got me all figured out.”

Her lips curved. “I do.” She paused. “Which is why I also know the only reason you’d want to talk to me is because of your visions.” Her eyes remained steady on me as she asked, “You’ve seen me, haven’t you?”

“ Yes .” I was pale and shaking in my seat, doing my best not to remember, doing my best not to surrender to the crushing weight of guilt.

Silence.

“And it’s not good.”

Her voice was so calm. How could she sound so calm when I realize now that she really had figured me out, that she knew what I had to say even without me speaking a word? How?

“I’m sorry.” I choked the words out.

“I doubt it’s your fault.”

I shook my head. “You don’t understand—-”

“No, Lady Zari. It’s not your fault.” Her voice turned gentle, and I remembered then that she wasn’t just the woman who I was jealous of. She was also a hunter, bound to protect the innocent, and a healer, committed to saving lives.

I remembered that she was a good person, and it was because of me a good person like her would die.

“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” My voice was thick with unshed tears. If Katarina weren’t going to seek comfort in tears, then I wouldn’t either.

“Lady Zari, I mean it. I’ve been around long enough to know the truth. If Death wishes to claim me, it will, and there’s no stopping it.”

“I n-never wished you were dead, Lady Katarina. I’d never—-”

“I know.” She paused. “Do you...do you know when it might happen?” She held her hand out as she asked, which showed just how much she knew about soul seers.

Shakily, I reached out to grasp her hand.

BURNING HOT, THE FLAMES dancing, rejoicing as it reached new heights and turned the world into orange.

Everywhere, it was orange.

In the distance, I saw the school.

I ran towards it even as the walls of the school crumbled, one after another. It was falling apart before my eyes, the roof crashing down, the floors giving out, and—-

I covered my ears as I heard it for the first time.

Screams.

Hundreds of human pets screaming—-

Burning—-

Dying—-

And at the center of it all was Katarina.

She too was screaming, burning, dying.

And it was all because of me.

I forced myself to move even as I sobbed. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” I tried to search for a clue, wiping the tears and ashes constantly from my eyes as I did. I had so little time left before I had to go back or burn with this world.

Praying for strength, I took a deep breath and jumped through one of the doorways. Fear engulfed me, my skin melting under the heat, but I ignored the pain and doggedly searched for a clue.

This was not real, I told myself. This was not real.

I stumbled towards the reception area, the pain crippling, and I started to gasp for breath.

I fell on the counter and began rummaging. A slip of paper caught my eye, an appointment note that had the date encircled—-

I TORE OUT OF MY VISIONS with a gasp, and I could only nod in thanks as I took the glass of water Katarina held out. The icy cold water relieved the irritating and burning sensation in my throat. Even now, I could feel the sting of smoke on my eyes, the way the heat cooked my skin, and the pain, oh God, the excruciating pain.

Katarina didn’t say a thing, only watching me patiently, carefully.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

She froze. “A year then? A month?”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry.” I didn’t think I could ever say it enough. “You don’t even have a week.”

“Oh.” Her eyes turned glassy with shock. “I s-see.” She leaned back against her seat. “But these visions...” It was my first time to hear her sound so hesitant. “They don’t always happen, yes?”

I nodded vehemently. “We can do something to stop it.”

“Yes. Definitely.” But she didn’t sound like she believed me.

I bent my head down, and it was all I could do not to let my shoulders droop even as the weight of my guilt became heavier and heavier.

Even now it was unclear.

How it would happen, why it had to be her, what it had to do with me...

But one thing was certain.

Whatever happened, her death would be my choice.

I would choose whether she lived or died.

“Lady Zari?”

My head jerked up. “Y-yes?”

“Were you always able to prevent your visions from happening?”

I almost didn’t answer, but in the end, I knew I had no right to withhold the truth. And so I whispered, “No.”

“Then I really may die.”

“ Yes .”

“And I have barely a week left?”

I nodded.

“Then...if that’s so...could you please give me Alexandru back while I’m still alive?”