by Dawn Ibanez
“Introducing Mistress Kalina Faust and her escort, The Goblin.”
Kalina turned to the person that spoke and felt her temper flare. Before she could say something, Ryan stepped between them. “It’s fine,” he whispered.
She didn’t say anything as they walked across the room. As they approached Faust, he stood with a smile plastered across his face.
“Kalina, you look beautiful,” he said, taking her hands into his. He leaned forward and kissed both sides of her cheeks. “Elena did well with your dress.”
Even though he disgusted her, she returned his fake smile. “My friend and I designed it.” When he blinked, her smile brightened. “We thought this was more my style.”
Faust chuckled as he stepped back and gestured to his table. “Please, have a seat. There are going to be many people that want to meet you.”
She frowned when she noticed there were only two chairs. “Ryan is my plus one, Father. Shouldn’t he be allowed to sit with me as well?” When Faust’s red eyes focused on her, she felt a chill go down her spine. She wasn’t ready to face him. With his magic, he could destroy her with a twitch of his pinky. Kalina swallowed and looked at Ryan. “Will you be alright?”
Ryan’s eyes went from her to Faust and back. “I will be fine.” He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “It’s no slight. It’s how things are done.”
Kalina nodded and went to one of the empty chairs. “Then I guess that will be acceptable,” she said before sitting down. She placed her clutch in her lap as she looked around the room. “How long do I have to stay before we can leave?” They both knew that if she caused too much drama over Ryan, Faust would lash out. His anger was something neither she nor Ryan wanted to deal with.
Faust sat beside her and waved his hand over his head. The string quartet started playing their instruments again. “Spending time with your own kind isn’t something you would want to rush through.” Two flutes of champagne appeared on the table between them. “And I would like the chance to get to know my daughter.”
Kalina took a sip of the champagne and tried to center herself. “The first thing you can learn is that I’m not a fan of grand balls. I would have been happier if you would have just thrown a barbecue for us.”
He shook his head. “But that does nothing to display power. And every move made needs to be planned out so when it is made, so that it will have the most impact behind it.” He took a drink from his glass. His eyes nearly glowed as he looked out across the room. “A mere barbecue with burgers and beer would be considered nothing compared to a grand ball in the former castle of a czar.”
“You could make it so.”
Faust laughed. “Really? How do you figure that?”
She looked at the crowd entering the ballroom. So many people were all here to see her, as if she were some sort of museum piece. “Have you ever thought that sometimes it’s more about how you don’t use your power?”
“Spoken like a true babe in our world.” He drank from his flute and gestured to a woman with long black hair in a sapphire blue gown. “That woman right there. Her name is Tereza. She was a princess and once thought like you do. Power doesn’t have to be flaunted. Her father could change things for good because he ruled over everyone with kid gloves.”
She remembered Elena mentioning her name. “What did you do to her?”
Faust smiled and shook his head. “I was simply in the right place at the right time.” He leaned back in his chair. “The gullible king trusted a sorcerer. The sorcerer wanted the princess as his bride. She loved another. It was a messy affair. There was a fight over the control of a lamp and the bloodthirsty djinn that lived in it.”
Tereza was the genie Merrick told her about. “I thought you had her trapped in a lamp.”
Faust laughed. “Someone has been spilling my secrets.” He shook his head. “I don’t force her to stay in a lamp.”
Kalina looked at the woman again. She spoke with another guest but kept her hands neatly folded in her lap. “How did she come into your service?”
“After the princess sacrificed her happiness to get revenge for the street rat that didn’t deserve her.” He smiled at her. “I had a bargain with the djinn. He was hiding from me. When I went to collect, he told me about a girl that wanted the power to kill all that would harm her. He made her a djinn. In doing that, he bound her to his lamp, and gave it to me as payment.”
Kalina lowered her eyes. “You kept a woman around as payment for one of your deals?”
He leaned over to her ear. “I have done much worse than that, little girl. So be very careful when you try to act holier than thou. I can break you faster than most would blink.”
Kalina looked at him. The faint glow in his eyes frightened her, but that was what he wanted. His power came from people’s fear. Kalina kept her anger in check. She wouldn’t let him rule over her anymore. She couldn’t.
“Is this the woman we’ve been hearing about?”
Kalina turned and saw a black woman wearing a purple gown. Her hair was the color of midnight and fell around her shoulders in waves. The woman’s stance made her look even more regal than Elena could ever pull off.
Faust stood and motioned for Kalina to do the same. “Kalina, this is one of the eternal witches, Briar. Briar, this is my daughter, Kalina.”
Gold colored eyes swept over Kalina’s form. “Do you think you have what it takes to carry the name Faust?” she asked.
The curiosity in her tone calmed Kalina. She bowed her head as a gesture of respect. “We’re still figuring it out,” she said honestly. “I’ve survived poisoning and Cao Xian. So, we’re hopeful.”
Briar laughed. She held out her hand and waited for Kalina to take it. “I think I can grow to like you,” she said as she squeezed Kalina’s fingers. As she pulled away, an amethyst ring was on Kalina’s finger. Before Kalina could say anything, Briar covered her hand. “I’ll be in touch.”
Faust smiled and nodded as the witch walked away. He leaned over to Kalina’s ear again. “She is someone you want to have in your pocket. Make a good impression on her, and you may prove yourself useful to me.”
Kalina looked at him. “I thought I was already useful.”
“More than you know, Sweetheart.”
*****
Ryan hated the idea of Kalina in Faust’s clutches. He watched as she accepted a ring from the most vicious of the eternal witches. There was nothing he could do to help or guide her.
“Your heart is on your sleeve,” a low voice said.
Tereza stood next to him. The deep blue of her gown only enhanced the beauty she tried to keep hidden. “He made you come.”
She held up a hand to show him the gold bracer she wore on her wrist. “Until he gives me my freedom, I’m his to command.”
Ryan looked at Faust. He was leaning over and whispering into Kalina’s ear again. “Too bad that three wishes myth isn’t true.”
She laughed. “I would have been free within the first two months.” Tereza held up her hand and a plate appeared. “Care to share? We can’t do anything but watch him make a spectacle of himself.”
Ryan looked at the fruit and picked up a strawberry. As he ate it, he guided her to a table. “I just don’t want to watch him make a spectacle of her.”
Tereza put the plate down and shook her head. “Then you should have killed her before you fell in love.”
He looked at Kalina and watched as she greeted another player in the demon world. “I want my chance at happiness,” he said.
Tereza ate a grape and leaned her head on her hand. “You unfortunate thing.” She looked past him and straightened. “He’s here too?”
Without looking over his shoulder, he knew she meant Jasper. “If it makes you feel any better, Kalina hates him too. And she doesn’t even know what he did to you.”
She grabbed the glass of wine that appeared at her elbow and drank it. “Then, she has some taste.”
“I would like to think so,” Ryan chuc
kled.
She turned her attention back to him. The small smile that curled her lips would have made her more intriguing if he didn’t have Kalina. “You never denied you loved her.”
There was no need to lie about it. Not when the people closest to him already knew. “There’s no need. Like you said, my heart is on my sleeve.”
Tereza lifted her glass in a toast. “Then I pray Faust doesn’t destroy your life the way he’s destroyed mine.”
CHAPTER 20
The party dragged on for hours. Ryan watched as person after person went to Kalina and Faust. Gifts were lavished on them. Some to honor Kalina, bringing her in to their mystical world. Others to gain favor with Faust. Most were trying to gain favor with the dark-haired demon.
“Do you really believe he’s going to let you two be together?” Tereza asked.
She hadn’t left his side the entire evening. He didn’t mind. She was pleasant company, but she wasn’t the woman he wanted to be with. “We’ll work something out.” She also wasn’t the person to tell his plans to. Her connection to Faust was too strong.
The music stopped, and the room went quiet. Everyone’s attention went to the open doors, and Ryan cursed.
“Her Royal Highness Satella Alana von Lyoness,” the guard announced.
Satella walked into the room as if she owned it. Her hair was pinned to look as if someone covered her head with flowers. The gown she wore flowed around her. If Ryan didn’t know better, he would have thought she looked more like a goddess than a body-snatching witch.
Satella made her way to where Kalina and Faust came to their feet. Ryan started to stand when Tereza’s hand fell on top of his. “I won’t let her hurt Kalina,” he said.
“You’re going to play straight into his hands,” Tereza warned.
Ryan looked at where Satella was now holding her hand out for Faust. The demon gallantly kissed her knuckles. He then motioned to Kalina. Ryan knew the mannerisms. He was introducing the pair. Kalina said something that made her father frown. As she sat down, the guards made another announcement.
“Lord Merrick Emrys.”
Ryan turned his attention to Merrick. He didn’t know the other demon was going to be here. On the other hand, it would have been odd if Merrick didn’t show up. He just had to be sure whatever Faust had in store would leave them all in one piece.
“Ladies and Gentlemen,” Faust announced. His voice boomed in the room. “Now that the final player is here, let us begin with tonight’s entertainment.”
Ryan felt bile rise in his throat as the musicians vanished. He moved from his seat and started to make his way to Kalina. This was what Faust had been after.
“I have gathered you all here to witness the fall of someone that has been very dear to me.”
A spotlight landed on Ryan. His body froze. The look in Faust’s eyes made him swallow. The demon was in a mood to play. That meant everyone around him would suffer.
Faust smiled. “You don’t have anything to say? No playful quip?”
“I didn’t know I did anything to anger you.” Ryan forced his hands to his side as he fought the urge to fidget.
Faust put his arm around Kalina’s shoulders and caressed the side of her face. “I sent him to train you. To get you to harness your magic. To prepare you to stand at my side. Instead, he makes you live in fear. Everything you had is destroyed because of him.” Faust then turn his eyes to Satella. “You were warned as well, weren’t you?”
The smile Satella wore faded. She brushed a non-existent hair away from her face. “I wasn’t going to harm her.”
“Do not lie to me,” Faust roared. “You set that woman on my daughter, knowing full she could have been killed at any moment.”
Satella had the grace to look alarmed. No one wanted to be confronted with Faust’s anger. Not even a woman that has been dead for centuries. “You have my deepest apologies, my lord.”
Faust turned Kalina’s face to his. “I thought letting Gold and the dead queen have their little showdown was going to be fun. Instead, you live with a sword over your head.”
Kalina placed both of her hands on his as she removed his touch. “Staying with Ryan hasn’t been all bad.”
“Yes, but would you really want to stay with him, knowing who he is?”
“She doesn’t know him at all. Otherwise, she would never hang on his every word like a puppet.” Satella took a step closer to their table. “She swears that she knows him, but she doesn’t even know his name.”
“His name is Ryan,” Kalina replied.
The room broke down in laughter. Ryan clenched his fist as he realized how perfectly Faust set the room. Anyone that would have been able to help Kalina had been seated in the distance.
Faust looked from Kalina to Ryan and smiled. “No, my dear. Ryan was the name he adopted when he took a human form.” He reached out and touched a lock of Kalina’s hair. “His true identity is much worse.”
“What he did to me was horrible enough. Would you really want to subject yourself to that? What about your child?”
Kalina and Ryan both looked at her. Kalina recovered first. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Satella’s beautiful face was marred with a frown. “You chose to lay with him, and now you are honestly standing there saying you had no idea?”
Ryan’s breath caught. He and Kalina spent the days trying to figure out a way to defeat Faust, and their nights wrapped in each other’s arms. He scanned her body with his eyes. Her physical features hadn’t changed. But her magical scent was no longer as soft as before. Now instead of just her natural scent, she carried the hint of vanilla laced lilacs. He felt something in his chest twist as he went to her side.
Kalina was pale as he moved her away from Faust. “What are they talking about?” she asked. Her voice was small and he could feel the small tremble in her hands. “They aren’t saying what I think they’re saying, are they?”
He didn’t want to tell her like this. Not surrounded by more enemies than friends. Not when Faust was trying to gain more power through her. “I think they are,” he said. He stepped closer to her and leaned over to her ear. “Whatever they tell you, know I would never hurt you.”
The trembling in her hands increased. “I think this is the first time I’ve ever been this scared.”
“There’s no need to be scared of me. I’ll protect you.”
Satella snorted.
Kalina shook her head. “I’m not scared of you. I’m scared for you.”
“That is so touching,” Faust said. The tone of his voice was dry and sarcastic. Ryan wanted nothing more than to open a portal and leave with Kalina. “But I will not allow this foolishness to continue. I can’t.”
Ryan pulled Kalina behind him. “Faust, you don’t want to do this,” he warned. “Kalina is innocent. And she is carrying your grandchild.”
It was the wrong thing to say. The expression on Faust’s face lost all traces of humor. The demon snarled as he flexed and curled his fingers. “Oh, I don’t blame her for her betrayal. I blame you.”
“Betrayal?” Ryan mentally went down the list of those that could have possibly figured out their plan. The only other person he spoke with about sealing away Faust was Merrick. “I never betrayed you.”
“I told you to train her and bring her to me,” Faust roared. Those closest to their end of the room all stood and backed away. “I never said bed her. I never told you to corrupt her body. And I never told you to plan to seal me in one of this bastard’s fucking gems!”
Faust swung his hand and Merrick was thrown nearly across the room. He watched with glowing red eyes as Merrick’s body slid across the polished floor and stopped when he came against a marble pillar. “I have been gracious with allowing you to stay in my realm.” Faust stalked closer to where Merrick was slowly getting up. “And you repay me by trying to seal me away? You think to dampen my power?”
Ryan saw the concern on Kalina’s expression. He reached up to tou
ch her face, only to stop when he saw his nails. They were brittle and dark. Ryan curled his hand into a fist and lowered it. “Faust,” he bellowed. When the demon looked back at him, he moved away from Kalina. He wouldn’t put her in danger. He couldn’t put them in danger.
Faust snarled as he turned back to Merrick. “I will deal with you in a moment.” He kicked Merrick in his chest once more and reached down to grab a hand full of dark hair.
Ryan opened a portal directly in front of Merrick’s face. As Faust’s hand went through, he ran over to the pair and pulled Merrick away from the demon. “This is between you and me, Faust.”
Hands pulled Merrick away from Ryan. He turned to see both Esme and her granddaughter taking Merrick’s weight.
Faust pulled his hand out of the portal and shook it. He closed his eyes and seemed to take a moment to compose himself. “You are correct. My anger and disappointment with your betrayal begins and ends with you.” He used both hands to smooth his hair back. “What was your plan, Goblin? Were you going to steal away my child and try to gain more power? Or would you seal me away and manipulate my daughter into doing your dirty work? My debts would transfer to her. You said it yourself, she is an innocent in our world.”
Kalina’s gaze jumped from Faust to him and back again. As much as he wanted to run away with her, he couldn’t. Faust had too many people in his debt. They would all hunt them down like animals. Neither he nor Kalina would have a moment’s peace if they ran from him. Especially now that everyone knew she was pregnant.
Ryan wanted to scream with joy. He also trembled with fear. The woman he loved carried his child. He blinked and looked at Kalina. She stood next to the table, her entire body trembling. Tereza stood just behind her shoulder. “I did say that.”
Her magenta eyes filled with tears as she looked at him.
Ryan turned to Faust. He needed to get her away from this party. Tereza would do nothing. She belonged to Faust. Esme and Joanna had their hands full with Merrick. “Jasper can concur. The girl is naïve to a fault. I mean, her best friend is a child death dealer.”