by K. N. Banet
“If that’s what you want,” he murmured in my ear, his body curled over me. “Then we can do that...on two conditions.”
Well, now I know why his girlfriends called him Dom.
26
Chapter Twenty-Six
Laughing to himself, he let me out of the room, causing me to glare back at him.
“I’m not into the kinky stuff,” I informed him as we walked. I knew where they were keeping Nakul, but a witch showed up out of nowhere as I went down the hall toward the auditorium.
“Oh, yeah? I was just going to say one date and no alcohol.”
“Oh, well…” I wasn’t sure how one planned a sex date, so I let the conversation drop and followed the witch. Thankfully, Raphael was willing to let it drop as well.
We were led into the center of the auditorium. This wasn’t some high school set up. This was old school. A circular, lowered area was in the middle, where Raphael and I stood, and a table was in the center. Nakul was on it. The center area was lined with windows and seating, rising up toward the ceiling. A witch could hold a lesson, and the entire classroom could see. They could do a massive group spell, the spectators feeding their power into the witches who were channeling it.
This was where shit got done.
I went to Nakul’s side and was surprised to find I wasn’t pissed or angry. He looked a little worse for wear, his face a mass of bruising, and his nose was swollen two sizes bigger than it had been.
“I hit him pretty hard,” Raphael explained, stepping up next to me. “Why didn’t you bite and kill him, Kaliya? Why didn’t you use the one weapon you had on you? Your venom.”
“Because by the time I realized he was spelled, I also knew he had been fighting it for so long. He didn’t want to do it. Every piece of him screamed against it. He didn’t want to, and it was hurting him. He’s not Wesley. He wasn’t at the prison as an out-of-place victim. I had to show him some measure of kindness, right?” I looked up at my roommate, our hot conversation forgotten as I searched the eyes of someone I knew was good. “He didn’t want to, so why would I kill him for it?”
“I killed Dunter and one of those wolves,” he said, his voice taut. “If they were spelled, you’re calling me a murderer.”
“We didn’t know when you killed Dunter that people were being spelled to kill me,” I whispered. “I killed Levi and Erline and one of those wolves, but I don’t think they were under a compulsion spell. I really don’t. I think they were trying to win freedom.” Whoever had laid this trap had laid it well, with several possible ways to have me killed. “But not Wesley and…not…” I waved my hand at my uncle. A war raged in my head as I weighed whether I had done the worst thing or the best thing. Was there a right or wrong here?
No, there’s never a right or wrong. There are a thousand shades of grey, and I live in them. Purely black and white worlds are for the foolish, who have never experienced the real world beyond their own limited scope of imagination.
I should have killed him the moment I saw him in the condo, a dark part of me whispered.
I have to be loyal to the nagas first, just like Adhar and Mahavir, a selfish, yet confused, part of me returned fire.
I stepped back from my uncle, turning away so I could clear my head. I found a way to rationalize and avoid the entire problem. I didn’t need the conflicting feelings, and I wasn’t going to deal with them yet. They could hound me another day.
“Anyway, he has information we need. I couldn’t lose it.” I walked to seats on the side of the circular bottom floor, each step echoing in the room. When I sat down, I noticed my roommate was staring at me.
“And there you go,” he whispered. “Locking everything you feel away and talking about it in a way that’s easy to rationalize.”
“Yup, you’ve got me figured out.” I lifted my hands in defeat. “Emotions make the job hard, and my job is hard enough. Thinking about what I did doesn’t change that I did it. I put my life at risk to keep him alive. It’s over, and now I’m going to get what I want.”
He nodded as he walked over and took a seat next to me.
Are you sure you want me, Raphael Alvarez? This isn’t going to stop just because you think you like me.
“You can talk to me about anything,” he said, staring at my uncle’s still body. “If you ever need someone to talk to about it.”
“I don’t talk about it, I just live with it.” I let a murderer live as he tried to kill me because I pitied him, and he was one of mine, someone I was supposed to protect from the viciousness of the outside world. Having a rational reason and sticking to it was the only way I could live with it. This man had killed women and children. I had let him live while he tried to kill me.
“Kaliya—”
“I’m not talking about how I’m a terrible person,” I snapped.
He leaned back, his expression hurt. I turned away, and we waited on the witches in silence.
Monica and Piper came in first, shaking both of our hands. The seats around us slowly filled while we watched. By the time the last witch came in, half of them were full.
“Now that we have everyone, there are some things I need to clarify with you, Executioner Sahni.” Monica gestured for me to rise, so I did. “We might not be able to fix anything today. As you can see, we’re not running at full capacity for this sort of spell. It took a lot of power to track Levi through his storm, and more people were drained to try to heal you. What we can do today is identify the problem and give you a glimpse of what lies beyond whatever block someone put on him. We can do more digging at a later date when things have settled. Because of this, I’m dropping the price back down to three million. You can send it now if you agree to the terms.”
“And what about information that may be found in his mind? What about the matter of secrecy?”
“I will be the only witch of the coven privy to what is learned in his mind. You can have full confidence, anything found will stay with me unless you give me leave to mention it or use it for another purpose. I don’t toy with blackmail, Kaliya, and I don’t need to make an enemy of a sanctioned killer.”
I believed her.
I reached for my phone and didn’t find it. Raphael cleared his throat and held it out to me. I quickly punched in the right bank information and sent three million from one of my offshore accounts to another account that belonged to the coven. While I was on my phone, I noticed a missed call and text from Hasan. Promising myself I would get back to him soon, I continued with the task at hand.
“Done,” I said, shoving the phone into my pocket.
“Take a seat here. Raphael, please wait—”
“What are we doing?” he asked, directing it at me.
“I’m getting in position to ride in Nakul’s memories. You need to get out of—”
“Let me go,” he said sharply, a little desperate. “Let me…ride his memories, too. It might show us who did this to him, right? Who did the magic or who that healer is, yeah?”
“Yeah?”
“Let me ride his memories. Kaliya, I’m…I really think I should get a chance to see. I’ve seen people who work for…” He gave me a look, telling me everything without exposing it to the coven around us.
“Fine, if it’s okay with Monica.” I turned to her, not needing to ask. She could hear the entire conversation.
“Make another seat for him,” she ordered someone in the background. A cushion was run out from a side room and placed near mine. “You’ll both join hands with me around Nakul. He’ll be kept asleep. This will just be a dream for him, and if I can’t remove the block placed in his mind, he won’t remember any of it. We’ll be silent observers to his memories, but there is a risk to him. He could lose his memory completely. Removing the block could leave him brain dead. A variety of things can go wrong, so you will ride silently without trying to fight it or force it. If you need to get out, open your hands, and you’ll be disconnected. You’ll still be aware of the real world. And please, don’t g
et lost in your own memories. You can take us all for a ride down different roads and expose Nakul to them.”
Nakul was lowered to sit in a chair, and the table was rolled out of the room.
Taking our seats, we joined hands, forming a triangle around the sleeping naga.
It happened quickly. Once my eyes were closed, Monica began to chant softly, her voice the only audible thing in the room. Power flew through the room like a strong wind, threatening to take the air from my lungs.
Then I was standing in the prison, but for the first time, I was inside the cell—white stone walls and a metal door with a small viewing window. A guard walked by without looking in. I could feel what Nakul was feeling with a sense of detachment. He was bored. Another long day in his cell with no new books to read. Another day to feel the sorrow of missing his son and wife. Another day of guilt that he would never see any of his people again. I felt his chagrin as he corrected that. He would see none of his people except one.
Monica was right, I was still aware of the world. I could feel Raphael’s heat but not see him. I didn’t move a muscle or try to look around. This wasn’t my sight, this was Nakul’s, and we just had to go with it.
Which was especially odd when I saw myself walk by and look into the cell. My eyes didn’t seem so dark when I looked into a mirror. I had dark brown eyes, and I knew that, but they looked black to him through the glass. I blinked, and they turned the red-orange of my snake form then back again. Knowing me, I was probably mad when I saw him and had to reel it in. This wasn’t the day of the breakout.
I left the view. Nakul stood up and tried to look out at me, but the small window didn’t give much option for that.
He didn’t hate me. There was a feeling of understanding from him that I was a touch surprised about.
The vision faded, which caught me off guard, and an interview room formed around us. Eliphas sat across the table, smiling kindly as Nakul shifted in the seat to get more comfortable.
“Nakul, how are you feeling today?”
“I’m feeling fine, Warden. Why am I here?” There was something hard about the way Nakul spoke. He was distrustful, even angry about being in the room. He didn’t want to be there.
“I thought it was past time we talked. I talk to every inmate in the northern cell block in hopes that maybe one day, we can rehabilitate you and let you go home under more house arrest instead of being here.”
“If I ever get out of these walls…” Nakul trailed off. “You know what I did. I would keep doing it. I won’t stop until the Tribunal pledges its full power to stop the slaughter of nagas.”
“Ah. Then let’s talk about that…” Eliphas, his words thoughtful, faded out.
The hard part of memories was the sense of time. I didn’t know which memory came first on the timeline. I didn’t know what day it was or even the year.
The third memory started, and now Nakul seemed to have a sense of enjoyment sitting in the chair with Eliphas across from him.
“Good afternoon, Warden. Time for another chat?” Nakul sat down. I could feel the smile on his face.
“It is!” Eliphas grinned back. “And I’ve brought a guest today. I hope you don’t mind. We reached out to him for help with Wesley, and I think you’re a good candidate for what he does.”
“What does he do?” Nakul trusted Eliphas, but he didn’t know how to feel about this new party. I didn’t blame him. This was a classic set up. From the feel of it, Eliphas had weaseled his way into Nakul’s trust, then decided to abuse it.
“He’s a healer.”
“I’m not broken,” Nakul hissed. “You know that. I had…have moments of temporary insanity. We’ve spoken about this. You know how I feel about—”
“He might be able to fix that, Nakul. He might be able to bury the urge. He might be able to give you a normal life again. Try talking to him. Just once.”
Nakul nodded, and I wanted to groan. Hook, line, and sinker.
The new man walked in, a crisp, young-looking man with a kind smile, wearing the white coat of a human doctor.
Raphael’s audible gasp spooked me. The connection to him broke, and I heard him fall back, heaving for air. I couldn’t do anything about that yet. He knew this face, and we would have to talk about it once this was done.
The meeting faded and went to another. Nakul didn’t like this new guy. He didn’t like that Eliphas kept bringing him around. Today was no different.
“This is one that’s been tampered with the most,” Monica said, stopping her chanting only for that.
I could see why. It was hazy and threatening to give me a headache. I heard a groan and figured it was from Nakul. Raphael had left, his heat no longer close to me.
“Why him? He won’t do it,” Eliphas snapped as the two men stood across the room from Nakul.
“Because he’s needed. She’s made someone very angry, and that’s the fun part about blackmail, Eliphas. You do what I want. Now do it.” The doctor, a guy they all called Doctor Bauer, nodded his head sharply at Nakul, who tensed.
Eliphas sighed and sat down across from him.
“Nakul, I need you to do something for me.” Eliphas’ words carried power.
Nakul knew how to identify a spell being woven when he felt one. He jerked against the bonds, but the magic of the prison made him weak and removed his ability to turn into a snake. He couldn’t get away.
“Nakul, you will do this thing for me,” Eliphas continued, looking angry.
“No,” he hissed. “I will not be a puppet.”
“You will kill Kaliya Sahni.”
Nakul’s stomach dropped as magic clawed its way into his mind.
“No!” he screamed. “I will kill no one for you. How could you betray me like this, Eliphas? I thought you were helping me!”
“I’m sorry,” the Warden whispered. “But I won’t lose everything just to protect you.” The witch took a deep breath. “Nakul, I need you to do something for me. Nakul, you will do this thing for me. You will kill Kaliya Sahni.”
I could barely breathe. My heart raced as I felt the rage and pain from my uncle. They were asking him to do one thing that was so far out of bounds, the spell was more than just a suggestion. It was a violation. The very idea of killing another naga, especially me, was so far past Nakul’s moral line that it was like being…
I didn’t continue the thought as the feelings of my uncle swirled around me.
“NO!” He wouldn’t do it. He would never do it. The compulsion spell sank into him, but he fought so hard. It buried itself deep inside him. It was there like a cancer, a foreign object that didn’t belong. It made him ill.
“He won’t do it if he remembers it’s there,” the doctor snapped. “Move over and let me finish this.”
Eliphas backed off quickly, his face blank. The doctor raised a hand over Nakul’s face, and an insidious black power wove its way into my uncle’s mind. It blurred things. It replaced things.
“If you kill Kaliya Sahni, you will be given a new life. A new name. Freedom will be yours to do with what you want. If you wish to return to killing, we can facilitate it. Others will be trying, though.”
“I won’t kill my niece or any other naga,” Nakul hissed, but I knew what just happened where my uncle did not. The man had blocked the memory of the spell that had just been done and replaced it with a ‘piece’ of a new memory. This was some heavy power. This healer was immensely powerful, and he was skilled with memory manipulation.
Something curled in my stomach as I felt Nakul’s violation. That feeling didn’t go away. As he was walked out of the room, the feeling that something had tainted him remained.
It reminded me all too much of the mistakes I had made as a teenager and what had been done to me. Bile rose in my throat as Nakul’s violation mirrored my own. A memory of a man forcing a potion down my throat came to me, and the scene started to change.
Monica let go of my hand, and it all ended.
I turned and vomited in th
e middle of the surrounding audience.
27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Kaliya, what happened?” Monica demanded, leaning over me as I finished emptying the contents of my stomach.
“Nothing. It’s fine,” I snapped. Nakul’s feelings had been so visceral, and my life had taken such a fucking left turn recently, everything had collided at that moment. I normally had no reaction. What happened to me as a teenager was a long time ago, a hundred years ago, to be precise.
The witch touched my shoulder, and I hissed, revealing fangs as I turned to look up at her.
“Don’t touch me,” I ordered. “You ended the spell. We have what we needed. My business is my own.”
She pulled her hand back, and I watched her put on a professional mask, then direct her attention to the witches around us, all silent and respectful. She had them well trained.
“Of course. Everyone, you’re dismissed. I want two junior coven members to clean up. Then all of you to take the rest of the night off. Rest and recuperate.” She looked back down on me. “You and Raphael can come with me.”
I nodded, getting off my hands and knees, trying to ignore the contents of my stomach that were now on the ground. A handkerchief appeared in front of me, and I snatched it from Piper as I passed her, wiping off my mouth. Raphael was quiet and pale as we were led to Monica’s office.
She locked us in and glared.
“Kaliya, this may not surprise you, but I cut the line because you were beginning to drag us into your memories. And Raphael, you had to break off pretty early. Are you okay?” Monica didn’t sound caring or motherly as she spoke. It felt like a perfunctory question before she chastised us like a headmistress.
“This isn’t your business. You have your money.”
“I do,” she said, looking away. “You can talk in private here. I’ll be outside.” She stomped out, her heels making that obnoxious click on the marble floors.