by Cece Rose
“What mess?” I ask.
“This isn’t a place you should be,” he says, gesturing around at the barren wasteland, burning under the red sun. I think he’s right. I don’t belong here. I belong with them, the people he spoke of. As the thought occurs to me, I begin to remember. The guys, the tests, Asmodeus taking me here, and leaving me to die. He technically didn’t kill me, so I guess this doesn’t count as breaking the rules. I don’t understand why he’s done this. He wanted me to pass, didn’t he?
“Adam,” I breath, looking back at him.
“There you are, Firefly,” he says gently, a smile lighting up his face.
“How do we get out of here?” I ask, the place making my skin crawl.
“That is the not so easy part. Where you are, it’s difficult to escape, there’s only one way I know of that truly works, and you’re not going to like it.” He reaches forwards and grabs my hands in his and I let him.
“What do we have to do?”
“The only way I know to bring you home would be through a soul link. I am only able to reach you in this dream-like state thanks to both that favour mark on your wrist, and your friends assisting me. They’re all here and can see you, but it takes so much energy to project that you can only see me,” he explains.
“What’s a soul link, and why am I not going to like it?” I ask, knowing there has to be a catch for my survival here. There always is one. I pull my hands away from him.
“You’d be permanently linked to me. I take a piece of your soul, and you take a piece of mine. Only demons can do it. Well, technically, a demon can do this with a non-demon, but it’s only demons that have the ability to take parts of souls,” he explains.
“You want a piece of my soul? No freaking way,” I say, folding my arms as I stare at him determinedly. “There has to be another way.”
“There is no other option, Firefly. The only way to get out of the between is to be pulled out by someone who is linked to you. Luckily, a soul link is possible for us to form through this dream state,” he answers.
“You keep calling this a dream state, does that mean this isn’t real?”
“It’s real, and it is a dream. You’re most likely lying passed out in this barren grey wasteland alone. Where you will die alone, if you don’t do this.”
“Geeze, no need to soften the blow,” I mutter. Seeing the deadly serious look on his face, I sigh. “Okay so, what would this do to us? Like it can’t just feel the same to have someone else’s soul inside of you, can it?”
“It would feel a little different. We would feel each other—”
“Feel each other? Ew, no, not happening,” I say, cutting him off as I mock shudder.
“Not like that, dove. Although I can assure you, it would not be ‘ew’” he quips, making me roll my eyes.
“Like what then?” I ask, ignoring his other comment.
“You’d be able to feel my presence, my emotional state, nothing too invasive, and there are ways to block feeling it, that you can learn,” he answers, for once being straight to the point.
“And you’d be able to feel mine, too, right?” I ask, wanting confirmation.
“Yes, I would, but I can block it out no problem.”
“Are there ways to break the link once it’s done?”
“Yes, but they’re not pleasant,” he drawls. “We don’t have long, dove, you need to make your decision. Die alone in a barren wasteland that lies between the worlds, or hand over a tiny slither of your soul. It doesn’t hurt one little bit.”
“How long do I have to decide?” I ask quietly.
“Minutes at most. So be my guest, take your bloody time, love. Forgive me if I’m a little insulted you’re really open to considering death over a simple little link to me,” he says, but there’s no real bite in his words.
“Fine,” I mutter. “Let’s do this shit, I suppose we can always look into the unpleasant unlinking things later.”
“Of course, we can,” he answers quickly.
“Great, so how does this whole soul thing work?” I ask.
“It’s pretty simple, dove. Give me your hands,” he says, holding his out.
“Do we have to hold hands?” I ask sceptically. The idea of demons holding hands nicely and trading slithers of their souls just doesn’t sit right in my head.
“That’s what the instructions on this particular ritual say to do, yes,” he says, the annoyance now creeping into his voice. I huff, and place my hands in his again reluctantly.
“What next?”
“Repeat after me: Et dabo tibi pars animae meae.”
“Et dabo tibi pars animae meae,” I repeat.
“Close your eyes,” he says. I give him a warning look, and then shut my eyes as instructed. It’s hard to resist the urge to open them again. “Relax, kitten,” he whispers.
I’m about to ask how long we have to stand like this, when I feel something pushing up against me, but not physically. The sensation is like when someone presses against my circle. A pressure on my magical energy.
“What are you doing?”
“You have to let me in here, the words aren’t enough.”
“How?” I ask, not understanding what I’m meant to do.
“When you feel me push, just don't push back,” he answers. Then I feel the pressure against my magical energy again. My instinctual reaction is always to push back, to hold strong and not let anything in. I gulp, and then I let the barrier around my magic fall. I can feel Adam's presence in a whole different way now. His energy isn't pushing against mine, but twirling around with it. It feels alive, like the magic inside of us is a separate consciousness. His energy is red, streaked with black, and it leaves a taste like dark chocolate on my tongue. Adam's hands grip mine tighter, his nails practically digging in.
“What's wrong?” I ask, tugging my hands a little back towards me. He loosens his grip on my hands, clearly realising how tightly he was gripping them.
“Your aura, it isn't like it seems from the outside.”
“What do you mean?”
“On the outside it looks red, but inside, it's gold. Like a golden core inside of you. You can only see a few flecks from the outside, which isn't common in itself,” he answers.
I feel a strange sensation, as a tendril of my energy entangles itself with one of his.
“Shit! Is that supposed to happen?” I question. My heart slams harder against my chest, and my palms are getting sweaty.
“Calm down, love. It’s okay, just relax, if you panic it’ll take longer,” he says soothingly.
My magic seems to spread its tendrils in all directions, entangling with strains that aren’t mine. Different tastes hit my tongue, smells fill my nostrils, and different colours clash in my mind. The tastes and smells are familiar, citrus fruits, the fresh air of a forest, spices, and peppermint. And then, suddenly it just stops, and Adam releases my hands as he steps back.
Opening my eyes, I look at Adam, but he’s looking down at his own hands as if trying to see something that I cannot. Focusing on myself, I can feel that my magic is different. It’s like I’m missing some of my own, but I’ve gained so much more in return.
“What now?” I ask, drawing Adam’s attention.
“Nothing more, it’s done.”
“I kind of expected it to be more difficult.” I frown. Splitting off a slither of my soul shouldn’t be so easy, surely?
“That’s because it’s something demons are just meant to be able to do. It’s something natural,” Adam explains, shrugging his shoulders dismissively.
“So, you can pull me back home now?”
“I’ll see you in just a moment,” he answers with a smile. The smile is hollow, something missing from it. His red eyes won’t meet mine, and I can feel something is off. He’s hiding something.
Chapter 26
As I’m pulled back into reality, I land right in Adam’s arms, which I quickly wriggle out of. I can feel the pulsing energy between us as I pull
away and I try and ignore it, knowing this is something I will have to deal with now.
I’m yanked into a warm hug, and I’m surprised to see it’s Callan who has grabbed me first. I’m quickly tugged away by Mason, who holds on tight, and presses a kiss to my forehead before I’m stolen away by Kaden, who really doesn’t seem to want to let go of me.
“Thought we’d really lost you this time,” he says quietly.
“Stupid demons,” I mumble back, wrapping my arms back around him.
“Fuck, M, I’m so glad you passed their tests. Who cares if you’re a demon,” Kaden whispers, hugging me so tight I can barely breathe. I finally manage to untangle myself from him, pulling away.
“Wait, I still have the final test to do,” I say, feeling confused. The guys look confused too. I turn to Adam, and see a different look on his, an almost regretful one. He shifts on his feet and brushes some non-existent dust off the arms of his jacket. “Adam?” I ask, and he lets out a deep sigh, finally bringing his eyes up to meet mine.
“The final test was loyalty, Firefly. You just passed it by binding your soul to a demon’s, to mine. They won’t be happy about the add-ons, or the fact you had to be tricked into it, but you did it all the same.”
I stare at him, as his words sink in, and I snap. “That’s why he took me there, not to kill me, but to make sure I had to agree to this, so I would pass the final test? You both knew I’d never agree to bind my freaking soul to a demon!”
“But you did, and now it’s done. We should really go so you can sign the agreement now, before anyone tries anything,” he says, just completely brushing off my concerns.
“I cannot believe you!” I snap as I close in on him, poking him in the chest. “I am not going anywhere with you. Stay the hell away from me!”
“That might be a little difficult, now, love,” he drawls.
“I. don’t. care. Piss off!” I shout. Knowing the sun has to be up shortly, and that he will be gone when it does, I cross over to the window, opening the blinds. As the rays of morning sunlight shine through, I turn around and look at Adam, and my jaw drops.
“Bloody hell,” he breaths, stepping closer to the rays. He holds his hand in the sunlight, letting the rays soak into his skin. Nothing happens, he doesn’t ping back into the demon realm, nor does he spontaneously combust.
“How the hell is that possible?” Nick asks, looking between me and Adam with his eyes wide. I swear I can feel the confusion coming from him, but that would be weird.
“It shouldn’t be possible,” Kaden agrees, also watching us intently.
“It has to be Mona, right? His link to her is the only thing that has changed,” Mason reasons aloud. Then, everything clicks in my mind and it all makes sense.
“I was right…you were using me to find a way to stay here,” I say. His head flicks back to mine.
“No, I didn’t know this would happen—”
“Save it, you freaking red-eyed mongrel,” I growl.
“Firefly, just listen to me—”
“No. Don’t call me that, don’t freaking call me anything. Get. Out. Now.”
“Fine. I’m going…but I’ll be back tomorrow, you need to sign that agreement,” he replies.
“Go to hell,” I breath, turning away from him.
“On my way there now…Firefly.” The familiar pressure followed by pop comes and goes, but I feel something else as he vanishes, I feel like a part of me is missing. Which is true, he just walked off with a tiny piece of my soul. And here I was thinking demons didn’t have them.
“Are you okay, lass?” Callan asks, a wash of concern falling over me. Wait, why am I concerned?
“I’m fine, just glad he’s gone.” As I’m pacing back and forth across the room I notice a buzzing sound.
“Well that’s a damn lie,” Nick accuses, I can feel the annoyance he’s projecting at me.
“Shut it, Nicky,” I snap.
“No, you can’t just—”
“Seriously, shut it. I’m trying to hear something,” I say, cutting him off as I look around. The buzzing sounds louder as I approach the window, I push it open and she flies right in.
“I thought you were going to let me freeze!” she all but screeches in her high-pitched voice.
“Why didn’t you knock?” I ask her, not sure how I was expected to know she was out there.
“Knock?”
“Like on the door,” I say, rolling my eyes. Freaking pixies.
“I can’t knock loud enough for you to notice,” she admits.
“Abby, how about I put some hot water in the sink for you tae warm up a little?” Callan offers, holding out his hand. She zooms across and lands in his hand, her non-verbal answer clear. “I’ll be back up in a second, lass,” he says as he exits the room.
Finally feeling able to keep still, I take a seat on the sofa. Kaden takes the spot next to me, and Mason and Nick take seats the opposite sofa.
“I’m a demon, linked to another demon. We exchanged pieces of our souls,” I say aloud, needing to speak the words, but not really looking for any words in return. Kaden wraps an arm around my shoulders.
“It’s not all bad, M,” Kaden says gently, and I huff. “At least you’re not just tied to the demon,” he adds.
“Wait, what?” I ask, pulling away so I can look at him.
“Well, none of us trusted just letting you link soul with him, who knows what he’d do, angel. So, we linked, too. Didn’t you feel it?” he asks, looking confused, feeling confused. Fuck.
“And by we you mean…?” I ask trailing off as I take in the implications. I look at Nick and Mason, neither of which answer me. I look back to Kaden. “Start talking.”
“Shit, M, we couldn’t decide, so we linked you to all of us…”
“You all have a piece of my soul?” I squeak.
“And you’ve got ours, too; doesn’t that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy?” Nick asks sarcastically.
“Mona—”
“Mason, don’t even,” I cut him off, knowing he was about to try and explain away this insane decision. Do I know that because it’s something Mason would do, or did the link tell me? Standing up, I look around at the three of them, I can feel them all. Their connection to me, how they’re feeling. I wonder if they can feel each other, too? If I concentrate harder, I can feel Callan in the kitchen as well.
“You had to accept us in, same as Adam. Why do you seem more upset about linking to us than a demon? We did it to protect you,” Kaden says, and I can feel his hurt, despite the fact he tries to make his voice sound normal. Shit, I can’t handle this. How am I supposed to hide how I feel?
“I’m tired, I’m going to sleep,” I mumble as I rush for the door.
“Mona—”
“Leave it, Mase. She needs to—”
I slam the door shut behind me, cutting off Kaden’s words. Heading straight for my room, and I shut that door behind me, too, wanting to put some distance between us. But I can feel them, all of them, in the house with me.
Taking deep breaths, I try to concentrate and keep them out. But it’s no use, I have no idea how to do it. Soul linking only works with demons, so I can’t exactly ask them how to do it either, how would they know? Shit. I grab for Callan’s spell book that’s still sitting on my bedside table, knowing there’s something in there that’ll help me.
Sitting down on the bed, I turn the pages until I find what I need: a dreamless sleep spell.
“Non somnia, ut somnum,” I whisper as I pull on my magic, and then blackness takes me in an instant.
“Knock, knock,” a voice calls from the hallway waking me up.
“Nick?” I call back groggily, recognising the voice as his. I sit up on the bed, dangling my legs over the edge.
“Well obviously,” he calls, pushing open my bedroom door without waiting for invitation. I run a hand through my tangled blonde hair as he strolls across the room and stops at the edge of the bed.
“What do you want?”
I ask him. I try and feel for where the other guys are, but I can’t feel anything. It’s like radio silence from them and all I can feel is Nick. I look at him in confusion. His face is a plain mask, but I can feel complete inner turmoil coming from him. “It’s okay, I’m not mad,” I whisper, and I pat the bed next to me. Instead of taking a seat he grabs my hands and pulls me up.
“We thought you realised. We could see you, but we couldn’t hear you and Adam talking, but we thought you knew the whole plan,” he explains.
“He said you were there, and I just couldn’t see you. I thought that meant you could hear the conversation,” I reply. “I did feel you guys though, I just, I don’t know, stupidly brushed it off at the time. I couldn’t not let you all in, if that makes sense? It felt right to,” I admit, talking to his chest as I’m not able to look up at him.
“We didn’t have a lot of time to think about a decision; nobody lasts long in the between. When he said what the plan was, for him to link to you in order to pull you back through, we—they panicked. The others really went a little crazy,” he says.
“I’m glad you did it, who knows what plans Adam has. I guess being linked to you guys puts a spanner in that one,” I reply, and then let out a deep sigh. “Where are the others?” I ask.
“Out,” Nick answers simply.
“They’re avoiding me.” I groan, running a hand through my hair as I chew on my bottom lip.
“Cut it out.”
“Cut what out?” I ask, and he answers by running his thumb across my bottom lip slowly. “Oh,” I breathe. Shit, I need to get away before he can feel what I’m feeling. Crap, what am I even feeling?
“I told you before to stop chewing your damn lip so much, it’s distracting,” he says quietly. Realising how closely we’re standing, I go to step back when he slides a hand behind my back and tugs me even closer. I make the mistake of looking up, and when I can feel his emotions, it’s harder to misread the look in his green eyes. Nicky definitely doesn’t hate me anymore, if he ever did.
“Nick—”
“Don’t start talking if you’re just going to lie, Mona. I can feel you just as much as you can feel me,” he whispers as he brushes some of my hair back from my face. My heart pounds against my chest, and I try to look away, but he cups a side of my face in his hand and tilts it up to look at him. “Look at me.” And I do. I look at Nick, and I see him completely.