Chapter Seven

ZARI

“ Y ou are... odd. ” Rhapsody shook her head at me when I finished telling her everything. Something about my friend made me feel at ease in letting her know the truth, something about her too-old eyes that told me she would be the last person in the world to judge.

However, she could still be pretty dense and tactless most times.

“ I’m odd?” I repeated crossly. “I’m heartbroken, not odd.” We were in her hotel room, and it was again protected by the same spell to keep our conversation private. She had performed the ritual herself, which both stunned and impressed me. She must have had seriously kick-ass professors when she had been homeschooled. But then, her Master turned out to be the Marquis of Sangre. It figured.

Remembering that little fact had me shaking my head back at her. “I can’t believe you’re that man’s pet.” I considered her thoughtfully. “Or maybe I can. Based on what I've heard, you guys are cut from the same block.”

There was a flush in her cheeks, adding rare color to her normally pale face, when Rhapsody answered sharply, “We have nothing in common.”

Whoa. Rhapsody was showing emotion beyond mild interest? I opened and closed my mouth, wondering if she knew how much she was giving away.

She glared at me.

Oh Lord, she was even furious now!

“Umm, okay, if you say so.” My head bobbed several times. “Nothing in common, right.”

Rhapsody inhaled, and afterwards she looked much like her expressionless self. “Let’s not talk about my Master,” she said. “You have worse problems than I do. I’m not the one who is likely to attempt murder on my Master’s ex-lover—-”

I winced.

“And whose Master hadn’t stopped me from leaving for Chalys—-”

I grimaced.

“Instead of sending the other woman away—-”

“ Rhapsody. I get it.” I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Every word she had said was true.

My friend blinked, as if only realizing now how her words had hurt. “Oh.” She reached for my hand and gave it an awkward pat. “I am terribly sorry, Lady Zari.”

I shrugged. “You win some, you lose some,” I said lightly. Checking my watch, I realized it was already time. “I need to go.”

Rhapsody only nodded. She knew about my plan. “But if things do not go your way, I urge you to tell your Master about your vision.” She hesitated. “I have heard about the kind of demon after you, Lady Zari. It is not... pleasant. It is more revolting than most because it makes its victim do all the dirty work. The longer you withhold the truth, the harder you’ll find it to resist the demon’s urges.”

KATARINA APPEARED SURPRISED to see me when she opened the door of her room. She was dressed to hit the outdoors in a tank top and exercise leggings. The short tight top emphasized her breasts to perfection and bared her well-defined abs. Just looking at her made me want to kill myself , and I wasn’t even listening to the demonic whispers that filled my head the moment I saw how, well, fit she was.

“Oh, Lady Zari.” She looked over my head searchingly.

I cleared my throat. “It’s just me, Lady Katarina.”

“I see.” A ready smile immediately appeared on her lips, and I had to give it to her. She was really good at faking. “Is there anything I can do for you? I’m actually just about to leave for training.”

Training? She still had to train? I managed to return her smile. “Umm, great, I’ll watch you train!”

Katarina didn’t demur after that, but she did send me an odd look that wasn’t so different from how Rhapsody had glanced at me earlier. Maybe they were right. Maybe I was odd, and I’d probably appear even odder once my Master’s ex-lover found out why I was accompanying her.

We headed to the same woods, and I asked Katarina why it appeared so dead.

“Trees are extremely sensitive to the air, and that ...” She jerked her head towards the ghost town. “Too many bad souls linger there, poisoning the air, preventing the trees from being able to properly breathe. The trees are too strong to be killed, though. I think they’ve been under the care of nymphs once and that’s why they’ve survived this long.”

“Nymphs,” I repeated dumbly. “Aren’t they...” The word extinct came to mind, but I didn’t think that was the right word to describe the annihilation of their race. Like soul seers, the nymphs had been destroyed by demons, too.

Sadness flickered in Katarina’s eyes. “Yes.”

We were quiet again until Katarina asked, “Why are you accompanying me?”

Rather than answering her straight, I said, “What you asked me in the past, I know what my answer is now.”

Katarina’s head swung to me sharply.

“I won’t give you my Master now.” I managed a smile. “I’ll give him to you after, once I’ve made sure you're not going to die.” My next words made it hard for me to look her in the eye, but I forced them out all the same. “When I’m sure... I won’t end up killing you .”

From somewhere, a demon screamed in agony.

I thought I was imagining it for a moment, but then I saw the alarm flashing in Katarina’s eyes, and I knew we both heard it.

She grabbed my hand. “ Run. ”

I didn’t bother questioning her. We ran, and I tried to keep up with her, my heart in my throat as the demon kept howling in rage inside my mind. It was furious that I had spoken the truth to Katarina, thus weakening its hold on my soul. So damn furious it wanted to kill both of us.

Suddenly, I felt it, the talons that sank into my soul, trying to rip it out of my body.

I fell to my knees, screaming.

Kill.

I shook my head. Never.

Katarina tried pulling me up. “Lady Zari, we have to go—-”

The talons dug deeper into my soul, trying to tear it into shreds, and I screamed again.

Kill.

I shook my head. Never. I would rather die, and I hope I took it with me.

My Master’s voice intruded in my mind, fierce and urgent. Zari, I can feel your pain.

D-don’t mind me. His voice came to me faintly, and I knew it was the demon working against me. It’s nearby. Find it. End this.

Katarina was still trying to pull me to my feet. “Lady Zari, it’s not safe here—-” She stopped when I tightened my hand around hers.

I wanted to tell her that there was no point in running. The demon was inside me. “Lady Katarina...” The urge to kill her now, here, the urge to fill the forest with her cries of pain smashed into me, and I wanted to yank her down—-

But I didn’t.

And so the demon kept clawing against my soul instead.

“I’m sorry. ” I forced the words out.

Inside my mind, the demon roared, the words burning wounds into its skin.

I forced myself to look at Katarina, my body shaking with the effort not to wrap my fingers around her throat and squeeze the breath out of her. “ I’m sorry I want to kill you. ”

“Lady Zari, this isn’t the time—-”

Cutting her off, I gasped out, “I’m sorry I think you’re too tall for Alexandru!”

The demon howled and took revenge as more talons pierced my soul.

Ignoring the pain, I went on, “I’m sorry I think you’ve got abs like a guy. I’m sorry I think you’re a heartless bitch for pushing him away but stringing him along for hundreds of years—-” I choked back a sob as the demon, weakened but furious, extended its attack to my physical body.

It clawed my arms from the inside, and I started to bleed.

“Lady Zari!” Katarina dropped to her knees. I could hear the healer in her taking over as she ran her hands over my wounds, whispering words I didn’t understand. But with every wound she healed, two more appeared, and I knew that if she continued this, I might just end up bleeding to death.

“ Stop. ” I coughed out blood. The demon was working on my throat, too, preventing me from speaking.

Katarina released me, realizing that she was hurting me more.

Silence hummed and inside of me, the demon had also ceased its attack. I knew it was resting to regain some strength. Around us, the air had turned still, and the dead trees were nothing but a circle of indifferent witnesses.

“It must be near to cause this much pain,” Katarina muttered. “I should look for it—-”

“No!” I coughed out more blood. “I don’t know...how it got into me...we can’t afford for it to get into you too...” My fingernails pierced her skin, and I realized too late what I had done when I saw her wince.

I released her right away. “ Sorry. ” Tears streaked down my face as I fought the urge to kill her.

Katarina’s gaze narrowed. A moment later, she said tightly, “I’m sorry.”

I only stared at her, too tired and in too much pain to ask what the apology was for.

Another moment, and she answered my question.

“I’m sorry because there are times I want to kill you just as badly.” She tightened her grip on my hand. “I want to kill you because I can see that you love him, more than I have ever loved Alexandru.”

Inside of me, the demon started to stir, its unease communicating itself to me.

Katarina’s voice remained steady as she continued, “I want to kill you because with you alive, he will never be mine—-”

The demon screeched with pain, and I realized that with every word of apology uttered, my hatred and guilt lessened, and with it the demon’s hold on my soul weakened.

“I want to kill you—-”

The demon wanted to flee, but it was unable to. Forgiveness replaced guilt and understanding replaced hatred, and my soul turned into the demon’s cage.

“Because he chose you. And so even if you were to leave him, a part of you will always linger. I want to kill you because no one can ever compare to the way you’ve surrendered yourself to him.”

The demon went wild and it lashed out, doing everything it could to get free. I could feel my eyes burning as if they wanted to pop out of their sockets. A buzzing filled my ears and my tongue started to swell.

“Lady Zari...” She was smiling at me, but her eyes were glassy with tears as she saw me bleeding all over. “I owe you a c-couple of apologies.”

I concentrated on her words, knowing I had to bear the pain because it was the only way for us to kill the demon for good.

Katarina started to speak. “I’m sorry I think you’re a pain in the ass – Alexandru has enough enemies as it is, but with you around he’ll have the world out for him, especially once people find out you’re a soul seer.”

“I’m sorry I think you’re so small, it should make Alexandru feel like he’s making love to a kid. I’m sorry I think you’ve got the body of a boy, it should make Alexandru feel like he’s gay when he’s kissing you.”

I coughed out a bloody laugh.

It was the demon’s death knell, and as I felt it thrashing desperately in its attempt to escape, I heard Alexandru’s voice in my mind. We’ve found the demon.

The talons in my soul disappeared.

The demon was dead.

I collapsed to the ground.

“Lady Zari?” Katarina cried out.

“I’m...okay.” It was still hard to speak, and my words came out as a croak. “Alexandru found the demon. It’s dead now.” I opened my eyes. We looked at each other, and suddenly we laughed. Even as tears formed in our eyes, we kept laughing.

“Do you need help?” Katarina asked as she came to her feet. At my nod, she offered her hand.

I took it.

Nooooooo—-

“Lady Zari?”

But it was too late.

Around me, the world had turned into orange – everything was completely orange—-

This isn’t real, I told myself feverishly, but then the fire grazed my skin, and I screamed at the pain of it.

I closed and opened my eyes. The world was still orange, and I was still guilty. I closed and opened my eyes. The world was still orange, I was still guilty, but I was not alone. She was there in front of me and she was burning alive.

COME BACK TO ME, ZARI. It was my Master’s voice, snatching me back to reality, and when I opened my eyes, I was in Alexandru’s arms, his face ashen. I saw Katarina behind him, her face drawn with worry.

I started to cry. “ I don’t understand .” I lifted my eyes to Alexandru. “I saw her, Master. She was still burning, and it was still my fault. The demon’s dead, but I still end up killing her. Why?”