South. He knew that she was south of him, though he had never solved the puzzle of how he knew where she was at all times. He could look at a map and know her exact location. Strangely, this time was different. There were days, months, and years when she was too far away to sense, as if she had been plucked from the world. Without warning, something would change and he would feel the familiar pull in his stomach and instantly know where she was. It was perplexing. He should have celebrated her disappearances and used the time to find a way to move on with his life; instead, it caused him worry and pain. It was one thing to choose not to go to her, but to not know her location was maddening. He worried that she was hurt, or dead. When she returned, he cursed her and wished she’d stay away.
He closed his eyes and focused on the gnawing pain in his stomach—the driving force that demanded that he find her. Should he go, just to make sure that she was safe? Should he ignore her and get a fucking life? He pondered the questions until his brain was on the verge of exploding.
Needing air, he threw himself from his hammock and ran up to the deck. He clung to the mast and stared up at the sky for answers. Could he continue living like this, if one could call it living at all?
“Where is she?” asked a deep voice behind him.
Viktor was a hundred miles away from anything resembling a shoreline and the water was silent, indicating that no ship had approached, which meant he was in deep shit.
“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” Viktor lied, not bothering to turn and face the man of his nightmares. Though he had seen the man before, they had never spoken to each other.
“Don’t lie to me, I’m in no mood to be trifled with,” the voice growled.
Fear curled through his stomach at the sound of the man’s voice, but he stood his ground.
“You may not remember me, but I know you and I know that you can find her,” the voice replied. The more the man spoke, the more his voice became consumed by rage.
Viktor contemplated jumping ship and swimming as far as his arms could take him, but it would do no good. How could he escape the omen, the portent of doom than signaled the end of his happiness? Whenever he lay his eyes upon the man, his world would be thrown into a chaos that he could not recover from.
“Why do you want her?” Viktor asked, curious as to why the man had come to ask this of him.
“She is missing and presumed to be in the custody of an enemy. You are the only one who can find her quickly,” the man said, barely keeping himself in control. His breathing was more like a hiss as he panted. Viktor could sense that he was close to lashing out at anyone close to him.
“Who has her?” Viktor yelled, unable to control his own anger at the thought of her being in the hands of an enemy.
“It does not matter. All that matters is for you to find her and bring her to me,” he snarled. The man took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. “In return, I will offer you something.”
Viktor froze when he heard the change in the man’s voice. Instead of sounding like a raging beast, he suddenly sounded cold and professional.
“There is nothing you could offer me,” Viktor replied.
“Help me find the girl and I will give you what you desire most, well, desire almost as much as her,” he whispered.
Viktor spun around and stared at the dark shadow standing behind him. “You don’t know what I want. You could never know.”
The man looked the same as always, regardless of the time that had passed. He was tall with wavy shoulder-length brown hair and the blackest eyes he had ever seen. The only thing different about him were the bloodstains on his shirt. He almost smiled at the revelation that his personal demon could bleed.
“Oh, but I do know what you desire,” he said smoothly. “You have the unique ability to find her anywhere in the world, and yet you are alone on this boat, so far from shore that no one would ever find you. Why have you not gone to her? Why have you not run into her arms? It’s because you want to be free of her. You want to forget the pain and misery of the past years. You want all of the terrible memories purged from your heart and soul. I can help you with your dilemma. I can make it so that all the heartache, loneliness, despair, and anger vanishes from your brain and you won’t remember any of this. You can finally start over without having to think about her and knowing that you could never have her. Bring her to me and I will make you forget all of it. You will be free at last. Isn’t that what you want?” the man said so softly that Viktor had to strain to hear him.
Viktor was astonished. How could he know? How could he see into his soul and know exactly what he wanted. The offer was almost too tempting. He had no idea how it could be done, but he believed the man standing on his boat in the middle of the ocean could make his wish come true.
“Do you swear that you can do it? Can you really make me forget everything? Can you make it so that she never existed?” He was shaking at the thought of being free of the woman that he loved more than anything in the world, but could never keep by his side.
“Yes,” the man hissed.
Viktor’s body shook at the prospect of being free. It was his worst nightmare and his best dream rolled into one offer. Accepting it would change everything, though the consequences were unthinkable.
“All I have to do is bring her to you and you will fulfill your end of the bargain?” Viktor was wary of the Harbinger of Evil—the prophet who brought misery to his world, but he couldn’t stop thinking about what he was offering. He could finally have a fresh start. He could finally forget all of it, including the demon standing before him. His heart sped up at the thought and made him woozy.
“You have my word.” The man held out his hand, waiting for Viktor to complete their deal.
Taking a deep breath, Viktor knew what he needed to do. Right or wrong, his prayers had finally been answered, though it was by the last person in the universe that he expected to help him. One handshake and his problems would finally be solved. He would be free to live his life without her. He could do whatever he wanted with his life. All he had to do was find her and hand her over. It was almost too easy.
Viktor took a shaky step forward as he if was walking in a fog, took the man’s hand into his, and shook on their arrangement.
“Find her quickly, because my deal has its limitations. If someone else finds her first, or she dies, then our deal is off. If you fail, you will suffer for eternity and never know happiness again,” the man warned. His anger had returned in full-force, making Viktor snap out of his delirium to realize what he had just done.
Viktor feared very little in the world, but he was terrified when he heard the threat beneath the man’s simple vow. He knew he would be lucky to escape with his life if he broke their deal.
“I understand, but why not search for her yourself? I can point you in the right direction.” Viktor knew he should have kept his mouth shut since he was so close to getting what he wanted, but couldn’t help himself.
Surprisingly, the man hung his head. “It’s best for me to stay out of it. Many would die if I sought her out myself and the consequences would be unfathomable. The outcome would be worse than even your eyes have seen, especially if she dies.”
Viktor hesitated. He knew all too well the kind of destruction that followed the man, or creature before him.
“I will find her. I swear it,” Viktor vowed as he nodded his head.
“Tell no one of our arrangement, not even her. If I find out that you told her, you will lose everything you desire and in its place will be untold agony that even you cannot withstand,” he sneered.
With that, the man was gone and Viktor was standing on his ship alone in the darkness. Locating her was the easy part, rescuing her from an assailant could be tricky, but turning her over might prove to be impossible. How could he hand over his beloved to the devil himself?
∞
Anjali woke up with a splitting headache, and a terrible ache in her stomach. She wasn’t accustomed to fee
ling hungry and cranky upon waking. She opened her eyes expecting to see the cold, dark cave again, but instead she saw the bright sun shining down on her. From the position of the sun, it was about noon, though she had no idea how many days she had been unconscious.
Her mouth tasted like seawater and sand. She remembered falling into the black water after a large wave knocked her off balance, and struggling to swim to the surface, but she couldn’t remember anything after that.
She moved her head and shoulders to see if she had any new injuries, afraid that she had been tossed against the rocks. Breathing a sigh of relief, she was happy to find that nothing else but her side and legs hurt. Things could have been much worse based on the way the water was slamming against the rocks last night.
Looking around, she tried to figure out where she was. She had assumed she was on a tropical island, but tropical paradise was more precise. If she wasn’t being held against her will by her angel, she would have enjoyed the white sandy beach, the palm trees swaying in the warm breeze, and the beautiful jungle scenery behind her. She wasn’t sure why Haydn had brought her to this place, aside from its remoteness. She could scream all she wanted, but she had a feeling that they were alone on the island.
Struggling to get to her feet, she stretched her shoulders and headed toward the water. Sand was stuck in all kinds of places, adding to her irritability. She slowly made her way into the warm water, trying not to lose her balance. Taking care not to get sucked under by the current, she dipped her head under the water to rinse out her sand-caked hair and get as much sand out of her dress as possible.
She wished that she could be here with CJ, but that was not possible. Instead, she had to figure out how to get off the island without killing Haydn.
She felt the hot sun bearing down on her pale skin and dark colored dress. Her skin would start to blister soon. Never one to stay out in the sun, she made her way up the beach and into the shade of the tall palm trees. This place was the perfect vacation location, which gave her hope that she might find help if she explored the island.
“You’re looking better,” Haydn said. She turned in the direction of his voice and found him sitting on a fallen tree, eating a banana.
“You look like you’re still breathing. I will have to remedy that the first chance I get,” she hissed. Until she could figure out if he was a Rogue, she had to consider him an enemy.
“You can be mad at me all you want, but you are the one who stupidly ended up in the water,” he smirked.
She looked at him as if he was crazy. “Oh, yes, this is all my fault because I tried to escape from my crazed angel who wants me to release my Predznak before he kills me. What was I thinking? I should have complied with your request and extended my neck so that you would have an easier time killing me,” she said sarcastically. “Apparently the years away from me have decayed your mind, so I will assume that you are insane. I will put you out of your misery soon enough, but don’t worry, I will be merciful and not allow you to suffer.”
She swung her wet hair over her shoulder and searched for a navigable path through the dense jungle.
Haydn tsked at her. “There’s no one on this island and you can’t escape. Even if you try to swim to the nearby island, it’s deserted. I picked my location well,” he said smugly.
“Just because I’m trapped on an island with you doesn’t mean that I have to be anywhere near you,” she huffed.
She left him on the beach and headed into the jungle to find a water source before her thirst became an uncontrollable need. She had spent enough time in the Realm of Thirst to remember how much dehydration sucked.
She ignored the laughter coming from the beach as she struggled up a sandy hill to reach the denser forest. Her calves were aching and the knife wounds in her thighs made her want to cry, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of admitting that she was screwed.
“I promise you, I will get what I want. I’m going to let you suffer on this island just as you left me to suffer for centuries,” he said a few feet behind her.
Swinging around abruptly, she smiled at him. “I thought torturing people was your specialty. So far, you are boring me. If you wanted to make me suffer, you wouldn’t have taken out the bullet or removed your knives. I think you’ve forgotten how to inflict pain,” she snickered. She thought about stealing his stupid sunglasses just to piss him off, but didn’t want to expend any extra energy.
When he didn’t reply, she turned back around and continued up the incline through the lush ground foliage. She heard a twig snap a second before Haydn grabbed her by the hair and shoved her to the ground. Landing on her knees, she twisted around and kicked out her foot. Her heel collided with Haydn’s kneecap and he grunted in pain. His leg wobbled and he fell into a patch of bright orange flowers.
“Release me!” she shouted. She got to her feet and stood her ground, waiting for him to retaliate.
Haydn popped back up to his feet and rushed toward her. “I will kill you right now if you don’t comply with my order,” he said without any emotion. His intimidation factor was hovering around a two, which made her wonder what was wrong with him. Derick was more intimidating than her Angel of Distrust.
She raised her eyebrows at him. “I don’t take orders from my Predznak. If you don’t believe me, go find Alazar, wherever he is,” she said haughtily. She casually pulled her head back as if she was going to stretch her shoulders and slammed her forehead into his, head butting him again. She smiled when she heard a snap. The bridge of his glasses broke apart and the pieces fell to the ground. She immediately regretted the action when the pain of hitting his thick skull roared through her head.
Haydn growled in frustration as he held the bridge of his nose. “What is wrong with you? Why won’t you do what I want?”
She tried to clear her double vision and focus on the real Haydn. “Did you honestly think this would be easy? Did you believe that you could scare and intimidate me, or are you used to getting what you want? I am your rightful master and you are my angel. It will take more than a little pain and a few threats to achieve your objective. If you are doing this just to beat up a woman then I’ll toss you into the Realm of Monsters and let Vasha play with you for a while,” she threatened.
Haydn narrowed his bright emerald eyes at her and seemed hurt by her accusation. He opened his mouth to speak but snapped his jaw shut. “I don’t beat up women,” he said, his voice giving out.
She was surprised by his reaction but was happy to know that he hadn’t completely turned rogue. He still had some morals left, though she wondered how close he really was to becoming evil.
She took a deep breath and worked through the pain. She had no choice but to continue up the slope in search of water. Haydn may not need food and water, but soon it would be a major problem for her.
Unsure if he was following her, she glanced over her shoulder after a few minutes to find him still watching her from the edge of the trees. For a second she felt bad for accusing him of hurting women, until she felt the bruise forming on her knee from being driven to the ground. She wasn’t sure why it had invoked such a reaction when nothing else seemed to matter to him. He was indifferent about killing her despite suffering without her for centuries, yet when accused of hurting women for enjoyment, he was upset and angry. She had no idea what was wrong with him, but as much as she wanted to ponder the mystery that was Haydn, she had other problems to deal with. Based on her experiences in New York, delirium would soon set in and she would start hallucinating until she lost consciousness.
With sweat dripping down her back, she trekked farther into the tropical paradise and managed to find a small path that was easier to traverse. Though her feet were sore and her patent leather boots were chaffing her legs, she couldn’t take them off with her hands behind her and she refused to ask Haydn for help.
About a half an hour later, she finally heard the blessed sound of water trickling nearby. She followed the sound and found a small creek of
cool, clear water. She sent up a small prayer of thanks and stepped off the sandy path.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Haydn said. He suddenly appeared on the opposite side of the rocky stream on top of a moss-covered rock.
“Would you prefer me to pass out from thirst?” she snapped.
He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter to me since you will pass out either way, but I figured you would want to choose how you suffered. I assume you don’t know your poisonous frogs from your average tree frogs.” He pointed toward a small object near the water.
She looked down and saw a black and neon blue frog hopping toward her foot. She rolled her eyes and swore. Being an immortal she could shake off the effects of poison with time and much difficulty, but the poison couldn’t kill her. With the bonds draining her strength, the poison would affect her for days. She tapped her foot, annoyed that she had to add poison and animal attacks to her list of things to worry about along with the sunburn, dehydration and malnutrition.
“I have served time in the Realm of Poison, so I do know what a dart frog looks like. I’ve often thought about putting one in Hades’ bed,” she replied, though she wasn’t sure why she was telling him about her plans to piss off Hades.
He crossed his arms and smirked. “I’m surprised to hear that you and Hades aren’t best friends. The two of you have much in common. I can picture the two of you sitting around creating new tortures together,” he said, sounding genuinely surprised.
“Hades doesn’t have friends. If he did, they would have killed him long ago for betraying them,” she said staring down at the sparkling stream. Her mouth watered and her throat was even drier than before. She was willing to look like a fool in front of Haydn and stick her face in the stream to assuage her thirst.
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