by M. R. Polish
My eyes were heavy and wanted to close so badly, but I didn’t want to fall asleep and not be consciously with Ian. I didn’t want to leave him in any way. I wasn’t sure why I had all these thoughts all of a sudden. Maybe I was just scared to sleep. I hadn’t had any visits from Nicholas or Meadow the last couple times I slept, but it still scared me every time I got tired. I finally let my eyes close and succumbed to sleep.
At first, everything was dark—too dark. I blinked several times trying to make sense of my dream. Seriously, why couldn’t I have a normal dream for once. A thick fog rolled across the ground and over my feet. A loud screech filled the sky. I looked up trying to see what could cause such a sound. A pulsating vibration echoed in my head like a heartbeat rhythmically coming from the ground itself. I refused to move, not knowing what waited for me. This was obviously not a dream of my doing. I would never dream something so creepy intentionally.
“It’s been too long, Esmerelda.”
My blood froze as soon as I heard his voice. I turned slowly on my heel. “Nicholas, I see you’re still alive.”
“You might think you can get rid of me, but…” He walked closer to me, close enough I could smell his rancid breath. “But you can’t. You see, I’ve made a deal, one that not even you can break. It’s not like before, bringing the witches back from their graves. Which, by the way, thank you. Not sure I have properly thanked you before. Julie has always been sort of a pet, but she is really outdoing herself this time. I might even keep her around.”
I chose to ignore him about Julie, but I wouldn’t forget. I’d have to ask him about her later. “What do you mean it’s not the same? If I can bring back the dead, then I can certainly kill you.”
He ambled around me with his hands folded behind his back. His usual black trench coat made the fog come up in wisps around us. “Oh, Esmerelda, how I have missed these dreams of yours. Maybe we should shed some light on the subject, shall we?”
He brought his hands forward and together with only his fingertips touching, then lifted them above his head. The higher he raised his hands, the brighter my dream became.
My breathing hitched and my stomach churned viciously. This wasn’t a dream, it was a nightmare—it was death. Coal-black rocks protruded from the fog-covered ground, making me look down to see what I actually stood on. Even the sky was gray and filled with smoke. The overpowering smell of sulfur filled my nose. I tried desperately to breathe through my mouth, but I could taste the horrible rotten scent that burned my throat. Dark shadows crawled unnaturally over the rocks and hissed at me as they lifted their heads, or at least I thought it was their heads. Instantly, I remembered the feel of them as they covered me when Nicholas held me in the deep pits of his underground cell.
“What is this place?” I asked as I continued to take in my surroundings.
“Well, since I am feeling better, I thought I’d show you a bit of where I can take you while you slept. This is a pit of despair in Hell. There are many pits and levels, different types of pain to suffer.” He looked around with a smile on his face. “And you, my dear, will get to enjoy them all.”
“You’re sick and twisted,” I said with as much bravado I could muster, but secretly, my heart raced with his words. Surely I wouldn’t have to endure any levels of pain trapped in my own dreams. Would I? Then my whole body tensed when I thought about the fact that he could be talking about real life, not dreams.
He grinned wider. “I told you, I made a deal.”
I swallowed hard, and a shiver traveled through by body despite the heat that surrounded us. “What deal was that? You didn’t have a soul to sell.”
He lost his smile, only to replace it with a scowl. Obviously I touched a sore subject. “You don’t know anything about me. What I’ve been through to get where I am, why I do what I do, or even why I made a deal with the Death Keeper.”
I threw my hands in the air. “Then why don’t you explain it to me?”
He chortled a little. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Make it easier for you to plot against me.” He shook his head. “No. The only thing I’m gonna tell you tonight is, sweet dreams.” He gave me a sinister smile then faded into the air.
I let my hands drop, slapping against my hips. “Great.” I looked around in disgust. The smell of the sulfur had definitely gotten stronger since I first got there. I twirled in a circle, noting at least twenty of those creepy shadowy things that surrounded me.
“I suppose you’re the ones waiting to inflict the pain and despair on me, huh?” I exhaled a long, loud breath. I wasn’t gonna go down without a fight. This was my dream; nightmare or not, I would fight back.
I felt the familiar sizzle in my palms as my magic raced to the surface. I smiled. Thankfully my magic worked in the hellhole. The sky darkened even more as the thunder clouds moved in, pushing the smoke away. The two elements I had the most control over were definitely ones Mother Nature would be proud of—Earth and Air. The ground rumbled as a loud crack sounded across the sky. Where I stood was steady and unmoving, but all around the tall rocks tumbled and fell into pieces as the ground opened up, revealing the depths of the hell Nicholas brought me to.
The black shadows screeched and scattered in every direction, but I didn’t let up. I pushed harder. If Nicholas thought by bringing me here I would suffer and give up, he was seriously mistaken. Black creatures flew up from the deep pits and circled in the air above me. Even from where I stood, I could see their eyes were flames. My heart raced fiercely. Their long silk-like wings spread out as they flew higher, their breath parting my storm clouds.
I pushed harder, enveloping them into the storm. Lightning split the sky, hitting the ground with a loud crack. I felt heat everywhere; even my eyes burned as I watched the creatures fight against my powers, flapping their wings and screaming out against the electrical current that swept through the clouds.
The wind picked up and my hair blew all around my face. Fire spit up from the ground around me like geysers.
“Very good. Even I’m impressed,” a sultry voice said behind me. I jumped slightly and twisted to see a tall man with black hair and gray eyes that had streaks of red swimming through his irises, staring at me. He stood with his hands tucked into his front pant pockets. He wore a red shirt under a black jacket and his pants were black to match. I couldn’t deny how attractive he looked, even though my inner voice told me he was trouble. An evil kind of trouble.
“Who are you? What are you doing here?” I let my hands fall to my hips, but kept the storm brewing in the distance.
He let his bottom lip come out a bit as he nodded. “Well, I live here.”
I gulped. Yeah, he was definitely trouble. Okay, think, Es, think. What would Ian tell me to do right now? “Voluntarily?”
He smiled, but it made his eyes turn a deeper red, like fire spreading through him. “Yes.”
“Who are you?” I repeated.
“I’m Davin. I am the Death Keeper.”
Oh crap. I wanted to wake up—now! I closed my eyes and begged my body to wake up. I opened them to still see Davin standing there with a smirk on his face. “That won’t work here. You will wake up, but not until we’ve talked.” He spread his arms out, surveying the damage I caused. “I have to say I am throughouly impressed. I didn’t think you had enough power to carry over into my world. I might have to rethink my deal with Nicholas. I think you would prove to be of much more use alive, with me, than you would dead, to him.”
I stopped breathing. I was beginning to understand that no matter what, I was utterly screwed.
He tipped his head slightly. “Esmerelda, do you even know why Nicholas wants you dead?”
My mouth was too dry to answer. I shook my head.
“We should really go somewhere to talk.” He charmingly lifted his hand and our surroundings changed.
I spun around the elegant room. Red carpet covered the floors and the walls reached up forever to the extremely high ceiling. A massive fireplace fille
d a large portion of one wall with tall flames that licked the edges. A pool table, ready with balls racked on the green, sat in the middle of the room, and two high-back chairs sat facing each other near the fireplace. “Where are we?”
He grinned. “Home. Well, my home anyway. Maybe one day it will be yours too.”
I spoke through clenched teeth. “Never.”
He gave a half nod before walking to the pool table. “Do you play?”
“What? I thought you wanted to talk.” Seriously, I just wanted to wake up and never sleep again.
He grabbed a pool stick and rolled it on the top of the green felt of the table. “Exactly. Which is why I can’t allow you to wake up until we’ve talked.”
“You can read my thoughts?” Ugh, as if things couldn’t get any worse, I’m trapped with a mind reader.
He chuckled. “Well, yes and no. If you don’t block them, then they are just kind of there.”
“Oh. How do I block them?”
He grabbed the chalk and began chalking the end of the stick. “Same way you opened up when you first learned how to use your magic. Remember when Victor taught you to help Meadow? Now that was quite the experience, wasn’t it.”
My heart raced at the memory. “Shut up. You don’t know anything about that.”
He raised a brow. “I don’t? Hmm, I suppose it could’ve been another Meadow who came to me to make a deal after years of being unable to break the spell Bry made. How do you think Victor found you? Jarak? Just one day they wind up in the small pit-hole town of Elko and mysteriously find you? I guess it could happen, but it didn’t.” He handed me the stick he just readied. I took it cautiously.
He reached up on the wall for another one in the rack and repeated the process of getting it ready. “You see, I have magic too. It’s a bit different than yours, but still magic.”
“Dark magic,” I whispered.
“It’s still magic. Besides, I can do things you can’t with yours. For example, I can exchange a soul to be my slave for eternity in return for something they want. Like Meadow, she asked to break free of Bry so she could return to her beloved Nicholas. So, I made it happen, but she never said how she wanted her freedom. However, my favorite deal right now has to be the one Nicholas just made with me.” He looked over at me and smiled.
“What did he want in exchange for his soul?” It came out barely audible, but I knew he heard because he chortled a little.
“You. He wanted you dead. Among a couple other things.” He walked around to the corner of the table. “Do you want to break?”
“Huh?” I had a hard time wrapping my head around everything that was going on and I didn’t have time to register what he was asking.
“Pool, the balls, do you want to break?” He motioned with his stick to the balls racked in the triangle.
“Really? You want to play pool, while you are talking about how you are gonna kill me, because some craphead made a deal with you? Are you insane?”
“Okay, I’ll take that as a no.” He removed the triangle and set it aside. Expertly, he positioned his stick and struck the white ball, breaking the colors all over the felt. He looked up with his eyes at me. “See, it’s not hard.”
I placed my hand on my hip. This was officially the worst dream ever. He stood up and walked around the table to me. “Stripes or solids? I’ll let you choose.”
“You’re unbelievable. If I play, will you answer my questions?”
“I think that’s a great deal.” He gave me another grin and turned around.
“Oh no, not a deal, just a question. I’m not making any deals with you.”
“Not yet, anyway. Now, strips or solids?”
I looked at table. I wasn’t exactly sure how to play, but the balls with stripes looked like more fun. I’d seen it done in the movies. It couldn’t be all that hard. “Stripes.”
He raised a brow. “Really? Okay.” He let out a long breath.
“Why? What’s wrong with stripes?”
“Nothing, just thought you were a solid kind of girl, not one to like two different colors.”
He was really getting under my skin and he knew it. “Okay, so what do I do?”
He laughed. “Well, that explains why you picked stripes.”
“It doesn’t explain anything. Just tell me what to do already so I can get outa here.”
He explained the whole game of pool then directed me to the easiest striped ball to get in the pocket before taking a step back. I hit the white ball but it struck a stupid solid and knocked mine out of the way. “Okay, so while you beat me at pool, why don’t you finish telling me about Nicholas and his deal. How are you gonna kill me? Do I even have a way to fight it?”
He tipped his head side to side, examining the table. “Well, I haven’t decided the how yet. After seeing you with the Vengars and Horrors, I’m not sure I want to kill you. As I said before,” he paused to take his shot, sending his ball straight into the corner pocket, “I might have to rethink my deal with Nicholas. But it all depends on you.”
Never before did I think I’d have to even contemplate making a deal with the devil, but here I was, playing pool with him and discussing deals. I let out an exasperated breath as I watched him sink another ball. “What do I have to do?”
He glanced up, never taking his eyes off me, and shot a ball without looking at the table, sinking yet another one. “Are you wanting to make a deal?”
I swallowed, trying to find the right words. I didn’t need him to misconstrue what I said. “I am only willing to listen to what you have in mind.”
He stood up straight. “Okay, why don’t you take a shot while I talk.”
I stared at the table, looking at all the striped balls. None of them looked like they could find their way to a pocket.
“Esmerelda, the reason Nicholas wants you dead is because you have more power than he does. Even with his pretend crossbreed army, which by the way I think is a load of crap, he will never have what you have… Unless you’re dead. He asked me to kill you and hand over your powers to him. Because let’s face it, he’s power hungry but not very smart. I mean, how many times has he tried to kill you, yet he failed each time. He drags things out and likes to pretend that he’s all so evil, but really he’s just a worthless warlock. I have a hundred of him in my world. All of them think they are better than the others, they all think they can do better, they all think I will choose them for the next task.” He sighed and stared off into the flames still licking the fireplace walls.
I pretended not to notice his unusual quietness and proceeded to shoot a ball. I hit mine but it missed the pocket by about an inch. At least it wasn’t his this time. I was improving.
“What I don’t have is someone like you. If I am the one who takes your life I can bring it to my world, but it wouldn’t be the same as if you came willingly.”
My breathing hitched and I kept my head down. I couldn’t look at him. I was afraid of what he said.
“I have a better deal. What if I kill Nicholas, keeping your family and your world safe, and in return I won’t kill you, but you come live with me. Together, we can have everything. Your powers with mine would be amazing together.”
I jerked my head up to see him staring at me. The red in his eyes danced in rhythm to the flames. “Davin, I can’t.” My mouth was open but no other words came out.
“I’ll tell you what, why don’t you sleep on it. I’ll keep my offer open. If you change your mind just call for me.”
“I want to wake up now,” I said as my eyes began to blur with tears. I was angry, angrier than I had ever been before. Either I was to die and end up his slave, or I choose to end everything with Nicholas and leave Ian forever. My heart broke thinking that either way I was screwed.
He nodded sadly. “Okay. I’ll see you soon.” He placed his fingertips together and the room became black.
I sat up in bed gasping for air. Ian was instantly awake and sitting up next to me. Tears streamed down my face.
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“Shhh…it’s okay, whatever it is, it’s okay,” Ian tried to comfort me, but he didn’t know what was wrong. He pulled me close, wrapping his arms around me.
My face rested against his chest as I cried. “Ian, I don’t know what to do.”
“It’s okay. Tell me about it. We can figure it out together.”
Chapter Fourteen
A Hunting We Will Go
Esmerelda
Okay, so telling Ian probably wasn’t my best decision. All he did now was pace the hotel room. Ailaina knew something was amiss and was in our room within minutes of me telling Ian about Davin.
“I’m gonna kill him. I’m gonna kill him,” Ian kept repeating as he wore out the already thin carpet. “If he’s dead, then the Death Keeper won’t have to keep his deal.”
“I don’t know.” I hung my head as I sat on the bed and pet Luna’s head. She and Dregan came about the same time as Ailaina. Her head rested in my lap as she tried her best to comfort me.
“I hate that I can’t help you in your dreams,” she said as she let out another whimper.
“I know,” I whispered.
“How long do we have before he, um, before he either kills you or makes you choose?” Ailaina sat across from me on the other bed.
Ian threw his hands in the air. “Really? You’re her Seer, can’t you see? Really, what help are you if you can’t even do your job?”
“Ian,” I chastised. “Ailaina, don’t listen to him, he’s just frustrated.”
“It’s not my fault she can’t hear the truth. Seriously, Es, she needs to do her job. I know you haven’t been around many Seers but they’re supposed to help.”
“Ian, that’s enough. She’s my best friend and you have no right to talk to her that way.”
Ailaina stood up. “He’s right. I haven’t been doing my job. Ever since I was taken, I’ve been too scared to let myself see anything.”