“I should kill you for that,” she hissed.
He raised a brow.
“In exchange for your powers, your body and soul belonged to me,” she said quietly. “Was that not the bargain? Or perhaps you have forgotten?”
His fists clenched and his jaw tightened, but he said not a word.
“You will answer me!”
“Yes,” he said through gritted teeth, “that was the bargain.”
“Then you must never have contact with her again.”
“You would force yourself upon me, knowing I love another?” he asked.
“Was it not you who told me that you feared love?” she spat. “Yet now you claim you love her.”
“I do not fear it anymore,” he declared.
Her spine stiffened at his declaration. “And if she should die? What then?” Silura asked.
“She will not die.” The usual edge to his voice was gone.
Silura could not recall a time when his expression had been so unguarded. This woman he claimed to love had made him weak and had turned Maksim away from her. Fury rose, choking her.
“Really,” Silura managed to say. “And what is to save your lover from me?”
He closed the distance between them and glared down at her. “I will save her.”
Lifting her chin, she said softly, “And who will save her from you?”
A crease formed between his brows. The meaning of her words escaped him. “I would never harm her.”
“Really.” Turning her back on him, she walked away, a slow smile spreading across her face. He was certain about that, was he? Well, it might have been too late to reclaim their relationship, she thought, but it was not too late to inflict on him the same pain he had made her feel.
~ ~ ~
The boy reinforces his will. It is a pitiful attempt, but sufficient to protect the last part of him. I poke, I prod, I burn into him, but he is determined to withstand the pain to stand next to her, still hoping for salvation. But hope, like anything else, can be snuffed out.
~ Maksim
Chapter 27
I woke up more determined than ever. If being Seth’s “light” helped, then I sure as hell was going to blast as much sunshine into that dark soul as I could muster. Alyx and I figured there was a fifty-fifty chance that I was going to make a difference, but if I didn’t try—like that was even an option—the odds would be a hell of a lot worse. Could I get hurt? Yeah I could, but there was no way I could stand back and watch Seth take the hit for this.
I slammed my car door shut and, slinging my backpack strap over my shoulder, I jogged across the parking lot to where a group of the wrestlers—Seth among them—stood talking, their breath sending out puffs of white into the cold air. As I got closer, I slowed down and imagined the rays from the sun soaking into me. I soaked it up like the stones at Zero Point so I could turn it on when I needed to.
“Hey, guys,” I said, finding a place between Justin and Seth.
I got a few nods and a couple of wassups, but the boys mostly just stared at Seth and me. Apparently they had heard something had been going on between us.
I wrapped my free arm around Justin’s shoulder and gave him a quick hug. “Hey, you.”
“Hey,” he said, his eyes sweeping my face.
He was watching me too closely these days, as if I were a fragile piece of glass, ready to shatter with the next gust of wind. Little did he know I was there to kick some dark-soul ass.
Tilting my chin up to look at Seth, I put my entire heart into my smile and slid my hand into the crook of his arm.
“Good morning, Seth.”
My heart leapt when I saw his eyes brighten and the corners of his mouth curve up in a small smile.
“Morning,” he said before dipping his head down and pressing his lips against mine.
The spark that was Seth was back in his eyes when he pulled back to look at me, and for a few minutes the conversation between us all was like it used to be.
Justin was unusually quiet as he watched me, but even he looked relieved.
Seth frowned and rubbed his eyes. He blinked a few times, and ran his hand over his face.
“Dude, you okay?” asked one of the guys.
“Just a headache,” Seth muttered. The spark in his eyes had muted to a dull glow.
“I’ll catch you two later,” Justin said, when the bell rang, reaching over to slap Seth on the shoulder. He took a step backwards and mouthed to me, Are you okay?
Flicking my gaze back to Seth, I wasn’t sure I could answer that. Seth seemed to be losing his focus and was fighting for control. Still, I nodded at Justin and smiled faintly. Precious seconds were being wasted. I needed to get through to Seth.
“Walk me to class?” I asked Seth in a cheery voice. My smile didn’t waver, though my stomach knotted up in a tight wad as I watched the struggle in his eyes. His irises, still a golden brown, turned a shade darker and then back to golden with every beat of his heart.
“I thought I told you to stay away from me,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Oh, you won’t be getting rid of me that easily,” I told him
He closed his eyes and pressed my hand against his cheek, relief washing over his face.
“Come on, then,” he said. “Let’s hurry.”
# # #
I sat next to Seth in the Commons, my arm hooked into his. So far, my plan was working. Shadows had crossed his face more than once during our morning class, but he wasn’t pushing me away.
I scanned the room, looking for Alyx. I spotted her a few tables down, dressed in her usual black. The only color that jumped out was a bright red ribbon, wrapped around her head and tied into a bow on the top, the color perfectly matching her lipstick. Staring directly at me, her raised eyebrows asked: “Okay?”
I gave her a quick thumbs up before putting my hand back on my lap. Yeah, it was all good.
Then without warning, Seth’s body tensed up, flipping my senses to full alert.
“Damn it,” I muttered.
Seth’s profile had changed. His jaw clenched and the muscles tightened up to create serious angles on his face. He laced his fingers together and placed them on top of the table as he looked toward the door.
I saw what changed him. When Dirk had sauntered in, Seth’s gaze was intense and focused.
Dirk was clueless, as usual, as he headed towards the gym.
Keep going, keep going! I screamed silently, as if I had the power to push him through the gym doors. Almost there. Grab the handle and pull it, I pleaded.
Just as he put his hand on the handle he hesitated, as if listening to something, then he whipped around and locked stares with Seth.
Looking from one to the other, my heart sank when they smiled at each other and tipped their chins in that barely perceptible way guys did. Dirk gave up on whatever it was that he was going to do and wound his way through the tables to us.
“Hey, bro,” Dirk said as they fist bumped. “Hey, Danika,” he leered, giving me a once over.
“Go away, Dirk,” I shot back. I turned to Seth… and my heart dropped. This wasn’t Seth. It couldn’t be. His features were too hard, too unforgiving, and too cruel.
“Seth?”
His harsh gaze crushed me, but I refused to show him how much that hurt. Twisting to face him, I slid my hand behind his neck to pull him into a kiss. It was like pulling down on a massive tree branch and he wasn’t about to bend.
“No,” he hissed, with enough malice to scare the hell out of me. “Not this time.”
A hand pulled on my arm, gently insisting I let go of Seth.
“Come on, Dani,” Justin interrupted. “I need to copy your notes for next period.”
I resisted. “You won’t win,” I sneered into Seth’s face. I really hoped that the soul was listening.
Justin tugged harder on my arm, getting me to stand up. “Come on.” His breath warmed my cheek. “Don’t look back,” he murmured.
But, of course, I
did.
“Bye-bye,” Dirk waved to me, and then burst out laughing.
My face went hot and I sagged into Justin as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and led me away.
# # #
“Don’t do this to yourself, Dani.” Justin stopped and faced me, holding both of my hands in his.
“You don’t get it, Justin. I have to stay with Seth. He needs me.”
His teeth clenched and his nostrils flared. “You’re right. I don’t get it.” He slammed his hand into the locker behind me, making me flinch.
My teeth bit deep into my bottom lip. I had no idea Justin would react like this. How could I possibly explain this when Alyx and I didn’t have any answers ourselves? I wrapped my hand around his hand and squeezed. I couldn’t afford to have him jumping to conclusions, but I couldn’t let him in yet on what little we did know.
Holding his hand seemed to smooth things over just a little, because he cupped the side of my face and turned me to face him. “I don’t know what his problem is,” he said quietly. “You deserve so much better.”
I pressed into the warmth of his touch. Justin would do anything for me, I knew. But there wasn’t anything he could do to help Seth. I wished I could confide in him, but he’d think I was crazy. He’d probably look at me with pity, and I didn’t think I could stand that.
“Thanks, Justin. Thanks for being here.”
He held me a second longer before pulling back and shoving his hands in his pockets. He nodded, pressing his lips together as if shutting off what he wanted to say.
“Justin, it’s just that…” I let out a big breath. “It’s just complicated.”
He was quiet for a few seconds. Again, he shook his head and sighed. “Be careful, Dani. I don’t want to see you hurt.”
“I know.” I stood on the tips of my toes to kiss him on the cheek.
“Pssst!” Down the hall Alyx stood at the entrance to the Commons, waving me over.
“I’ve got to go.” I gave his hand a squeeze and turned to leave, but he hung on, pulling me back again.
“Hey,” he said. “I’m here for you. Anytime. Day or night, okay?”
“Thanks, Justin.” He let go and I hurried towards Alyx.
“Does Justin know?” She asked when I reached her.
“No.” I shook my head.
She lowered her voice. “Good. Did you catch what happened in the Commons?”
I frowned. “Which part? When Seth shut me down or when Dirk laughed at me?”
Alyx shook her head hard. “I watched the whole thing! It looked like your boyfriend got Dumb Jock’s attention without even saying anything—from across the freakin’ room! I mean, that was crazy!” Alyx dug into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. “I’ve got to call my mom. I’ll catch up with you later.”
She left me standing in the hall alone. So now what? I had to go back in and face Seth, because I wasn’t about to back down. I may not have any answers or know all the stuff that Alyx did, but I had a few strengths of my own, the most important one being that I loved Seth. And, according to the lady at the stone shop, love is a pretty powerful weapon.
I peered around the corner into the Commons. Seth and Dirk sat with their backs to me, talking with a group at the next table. Seth’s shoulders were slumped, his elbows planted on the table, his forehead pressed against his fists and his new sidekick, Dirk, was busy talking to the others.
That was my chance. I made my way to Seth and slid my arms around his waist, kissing him lightly on the ear. “I need a study buddy tonight. Will you help me?”
He nodded his head ever so slightly, as if giving a secret signal.
“Good,” I whispered, giving him a squeeze. “Seven o’clock tonight at your house.”
Another nod.
I knew what I had to do and I was going after that freakin’ soul with my barrels fully loaded.
I raged. I shook the bars of the cell he tried to contain me in. I burned the blood that ran through his veins. He forced his body to function by sheer will, knowing that she would come tonight and offer him an elixir of light.
~ Maksim
Chapter 28
Seven o’clock. The porch light over the front door glowed like a beacon. Seth had heard. Seth had remembered. I’d been wondering what was going on in Seth’s mind, if Seth had any control over what the soul heard, or if the soul allowed Seth to hear anything at all.
What I had planned for tonight could be the stupidest thing I’d ever done… or the smartest. The odds, I thought, were in my favor, but it all depended on who would open the door.
I singled out Seth’s house key from the others on my keying and headed towards the front door. There was no way I was going to let this soul destroy what Seth and I had.
The door was yanked open before I could get the key in the lock and a hand shot out from behind it, grabbing my wrist, and pulling me inside the door. My foot caught on the threshold, but strong arms steadied me before the door closed behind me. A rush of air escaped my mouth when Seth pulled me to his chest and covered my lips with his. I would give up my breath for him if that is what he needed.
Letting the keys fall onto the floor, I tangled my fingers in his hair to get closer. I wanted to be inside him, fighting for him. I wanted to be his strength.
Maybe Seth knew what I wanted to do, maybe he wanted the same thing, because his grip tightened across my back and the taste of Seth’s desperation was unmistakable.
The moments slipped by until his hold on me finally relaxed, breaking the contact between our bodies. A shiver rippled through my body. It felt good to have Seth so close again.
“I missed you, Dani,” he said.
Blinking, I focused on the face peering down at mine. To my huge relief, it was Seth, not the creep inside.
“I guess I should have said ‘hi’ first,” he said, laughing a little, “but I need you… so much.” The last two words were full of pain.
My skin was still warm where he’d gripped my waist, and the heat of his stare warmed me again, releasing the tension from my muscles, but I wasn’t about to let my guard down. This wasn’t over. This was just Round One.
“Come on,” he said.
He still held tightly to my elbow, almost too tightly.
Letting his hand glide down my arm before entwining our fingers, he scooped up my keys and led me to the kitchen.
“Thirsty?” he asked over his shoulder. Without waiting for an answer, he opened the refrigerator and grabbed two sodas.
Peering around his shoulder into the lit fridge, I gasped. “When was the last time you bought food?”
It was empty except for cans of soda and two half-eaten sandwiches. That made no sense. Seth liked cooking and he liked eating what he cooked. Spinning to look around the kitchen, I realized it was spotless. Not a dish, a wrapper, or anything that would suggest this part of the house was ever used.
He avoided both my gaze and my question and pulled me down the hall to his room.
“I’m glad you came over.” Tossing my keys on the desk, and putting the soda cans next to them, his grip on my hand tightened. He pulled me to the side of the bed and we sat down. Shifting his body, he faced me and focused on tracing small hearts on my palm with his thumb in a methodical way.
I listened to his breath, the tone of his voice, anything that would give me warning of a change for the worse. Seth’s shoulders drooped as if completely defeated. He wouldn’t even look at me. It seemed like he was ashamed of what was happening. Would he confide in me or would the soul keep him from telling me? Even more important, how much longer did we have before it came forward again?
I pulled my legs up on the bed and sat cross-legged to face him. “I know what’s wrong.”
He took a ragged breath and shook his head, still not looking up. “No, you don’t. You have no idea what’s wrong.”
His thumb stopped mid-stroke and pressed deeply into the center of my palm. No way was I going to tell him it hurt like hell.
But it was probably nothing compared to what he was going through. The way his shoulders cinched up all of a sudden and the muscles in his arms corded up and shook a little, like he was bracing for something to hit him, nearly made me cry.
“You probably wouldn’t believe me.” His voice was strained.
“Try me, Seth,” I said quickly.
One more shudder and his muscles relaxed again. “At first I thought I was losing my mind. I kept hearing a voice. I thought I was schizo,” he laughed softly, as if it were an inside joke—and it may well have been. “I really wanted that to be the reason, because what was really happening was starting to scare the shit out of me.” The hearts he traced had mutated and were buried under Xs, each one progressively bigger, until it filled my hand, before they shrank back into a small point in the center of my palm.
“Then things started happening,” he said. “Really weird things. Things I couldn’t explain. Like the dogs freaking out on me at the shelter, my truck, my keys.”
“What about the dogs? Did you do something to them?”
He shook his head. “At first I didn’t understand, but then I realized. They felt him. They knew he was there. They knew he was bad. But I had no freakin’ idea. Not a clue.”
“Who, Seth? Who was there?”
“Him,” he whispered. He lifted his head just enough to look at me from under his brows. “I thought he was an angel. He told me he was an angel. Ha! Imagine that. An angel.” He went silent for a few seconds. The Xs on my hand were warming up. Then without warning, he let loose and he slammed his fist onto the bed.
“He LIED to me!” His fingers shot through his hair, stopping when they got tangled up in the strands, then his fingers squeezed tight as if that would help him hang onto his sanity. And when he finally looked at me straight on, his eyes were wild and desperate. “It was all so cool in the beginning. I was thinking I had it all together. I had his help and I could do anything, be anything. I’d make you and Dad so happy and proud. Then I started to realize I was losing control. He started hurting me if I didn’t give in.” He grabbed at his shirt as if to loosen invisible ties that bound him in. “He wanted me to hurt you. I don’t know why, but he wanted to hurt you.
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