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Page 9

 

  Collins fingers threaded through my hair as I looked up at him. He pushed back stray curls like he did when we were at school and I was upset about something. Now all those times seemed so trivial. I thought my world was falling apart then, and he acted the same. His steadfast nature gave me hope. Maybe I wouldnt become the monster that fate carved out for me. Maybe I could still be someone else.

  A curl slipped between his fingers and brushed my face. "Im sorry about Eric. I know you guys were friends. " I nodded at him, but said nothing. When I didnt speak he asked, "So, Shannon the shrew is a full-blown Martis? And you shoved her through a black mirror?" I nodded again. His gaze bore into me. Those blue eyes were so intense that it was impossible to look away. My heart raced below my tattered shirt. It felt like he could see right through me. He smiled, "Sounds normal. For you. And what else? What arent you telling me?"

  My stomach twisted in knots at the question. Did the bond give me away? Could he really tell that I didnt tell him everything? I couldnt tell him what I did to Eric. I didnt want to admit it to myself yet, and Collin - I just couldnt tell him. I couldnt risk it.

  Finally he saved me from my thoughts and asked, "The glass? You can conjure the Locoician Glass! Thats incredible!"

  Relieved that he didnt more about Eric, I asked, "What? You mean the mirror?" He grabbed my hands and pulled me to sit next to him on a boulder. There was no one else around; it was just us in the darkness. The dragon, wherever he went, was out of sight for the moment.

  He smiled at me, "Of course! That mirror hasnt been seen for centuries. Its a wicked looking glass - literally. Its made of a black mirror and brimstone. And its cursed. No ones seen it since the demon Locoicia was killed. It was hers. And you can call it! Thats amazing! What did you do with it?"

  I didnt know what he was talking about. Confusion lit my face, "I didnt do anything with it. " The idea of calling an evil mirror sort of unnerved me. I didnt realize Id called it, and I had no idea what it did. One day it just appeared. Al thought it was evil, but she wasnt certain of its origins. Apparently she was right. That nun was always right.

  I shrugged, "It showed up and I shoved Shannon through it. I didnt know what it was. The first time I saw it was when I had a vision about you. The next time was when I pushed Shannon through. It spit her out at the church in New York, and then it disappeared again. I havent seen it since. "

  Collins face fell. "You pushed Shannon through the mirror?" He closed his eyes, blinking hard. "Oh wow. Thats not good. " He turned toward me, "Ivy, the mirror is enchanted. It amplifies peoples characteristics - their evil characteristics. Locoicia was a demon princess who wanted an army of unstoppable warriors. She would shove her slaves through the mirror to amplify their abilities. It made her army undefeatable. "

  My jaw dropped. "Are you saying I just made Shannon undefeatable?" My shoulders slumped, as I looked up into the thick black sky, and ran my fingers through my hair while pulling hard. What were the odds of that? Why does this stuff happen to me? Shaking my head in disgust, I looked at him saying, "Shes their Seeker - the Martis chosen to kill me. " The last part came out as a laugh. Id enabled her to hunt me down and kill me even faster, and all without knowing it. Awesome.

  "Yeah," Collin said with a coy smile on his face, "in the future, dont shove your enemies through the mirror. " His voice was light and teasing. I shot him a look that said I was about to freak out, but he cut off my tirade, taking my hands in his. "It doesnt matter. Shes up there. Youre down here. She cant get at you down here. "

  "But thats just it," I said springing up from my seat and pulling our hands apart. Collin remained seated and watched me pace. I spoke at an increasing volume with my hands flying, desperation filling my voice, "I cant stay down here Collin. I dont belong here. I want to go home. I need to talk to Al. There are things happening that I dont understand. I can ask you about the Valefar side of things, but Im part Martis too and if that part dies. . . "my voice trailed off. I couldnt even begin to fathom what my life would be like if I allowed that to happen. "I dont want to lose that part of me. I cant become the Prophecy One. I have to do this. I have to sneak up there and find Al. "

  At one time Id felt that I could have told Collin everything, but not now. Not when things were so precarious. It could lead to my undoing. And then I wasnt entirely certain of some things myself; like why was Lorren down here? How significant was it that he saved me - especially since there is an army of Martis trying to kill me? I stared at Collins face wanting to say these things, but feeling like I couldnt. I hadnt told Collin about Lorren either. I didnt know what to think of that whole situation, and I wanted to discuss it with someone very much. But, revealing Lorren would also reveal my fatal wound. I couldnt say anything. Collin couldnt know.

  I needed Al for these things. I pushed back the thoughts before the bond betrayed me. Right now I knew that my emotions were running wild and that my thoughts were so jumbled he couldnt get an un-garbled read on me. One thought penetrated all the others. It cut through the worry and fear, shooting straight to the top of my mind.

  Please.

  CHAPTER NINE

  He sighed and through the bond I felt that this was against his better judgment. He thought I was safer down here. He took my hand, "Ill take you to her, but we cant use the portal youre headed towards. We have to use a different one. Shannon will gut you the second you walk through the tomb. " I shivered, and was about to tell him that I didnt think she could have gotten back so quickly, but Collin cut me off. "Sorry, but you have to realize what youre dealing with. Shannon is going to be everything she was - times a hundred. If she was good at something before, now she is going to be unbelievably fantastic. And if her job is to kill you, then you have to avoid her. Take no chances. There are no more near-misses, not with her. If you see her again, you have to realize that one of you is not walking away alive. If you see her again, kill her before she kills you. "

  I nodded. This is what my life had come to. It made me feel sick inside that Shannon had turned on me. I didnt want to think about it. If I could live the rest of my life without seeing her again, that would be okay. But the odds of that happened werent good. Even with the poison in my chest.

  Collin pulled me to my feet, explaining, "Valefar leave the Underworld through various portals. Once you know where they are, you can effonate there, and then pass through them. The living and the dead arent supposed to mingle, and that includes us. I mean, me. . . and the Valefar. The angels went to great lengths to keep us separated from your world. But there are a few doors they didnt seal, because they didnt know of them. " He winked at me. I wondered if he would have told me the portals locations if he knew there was an angel hiding out in Hell. An angel who would seal the portals. All of them.

  I asked, "So, Valefar get around down here by effonating and then passing through a portal? We cant just effonate directly in or out of Hell?" He nodded. "But once we go through the portal, Valefar can effonate through the Underworld, just like they do above? They can go anywhere?" He nodded again. That must be why I never saw Valefar walking around down here. They didnt have to. And it avoided unnecessary unpleasantness with demon birds, dragons, and psychotic Valefar if they effonated. "Then why dont we just effonate to a portal?"

  He replied, "We cant. The only portal youve ever seen is the one you came through to get down here. Its not safe to use that one again, and you can get to the other locations because youve never seen them," he paused gazing at me. "Besides, Im not letting you out of my sight. "

  I smiled at him. I wasnt sure whatd he do. I asked, "So, youll come with me?"

  His eyebrows pinched together and he gave me a look that made me know that he thought my question was strange. "Yes. Why wouldnt I?"

  I shrugged. "Just wasnt sure because of the way things happened before. " I wasnt sure if Collin knew that Kreturus had been in him or not. He never acknowledged that he was possessed, and during the time we were apart, well -
it was possible that Kreturus left him. Or Kreturus could still be in there, but I couldnt sense the old demon. Even during that kiss, there was no trace of the ancient evil. It was just Collin and his icy hot kisses that I felt.

  He turned me towards him, "Ivy, Ill do everything I can to protect you, but I have to tell you something. Kreturus and I have a past. Hes targeting me, and not just because of you. When we were in New York, I told you that I made a bargain with him - my soul for yours. " Collin held my shoulders, but couldnt meet my eyes, "That was the deal. I told you that Id do anything to escape my life as a Valefar. I wanted my soul back. Kreturus promised me I would have it. Since demons have a tendency to lie and not follow through on their promises, I demanded part of my soul before I began looking for you. Kreturus gave it to me. "

  I couldnt believe what Collin was telling me. Kreturus had given him part of his soul? That meant Valefar could be restored! That meant that I could save Apryl and undo the horrors I inflicted on Eric! Hope soared within me and deafened me to the solemn look on Collins face. If Id noticed his expression, I wouldnt have jacked myself up so high on hope, because as soon as he finished his story, I felt miserable.

  "Ivy, he gave me a piece of my soul. He said it was a down payment - a glimpse of what I would get when I completed my task. Kreturus went the Pool of Lost Souls and called my soul out. He took a portion of it and infused it into my Valefar body. My soul and my body were reunited. But, it didnt work. " Collin released my shoulders and tipped his head toward the ground. The toe of his shoe scraped against the loose dirt. "As soon as my soul was reunited with my body, it became rancid - like it didnt belong inside of me. When the Valefar killed me, I was a good man with a good soul. When Kreturus gave me back my soul, I was an evil man with an evil body. The good soul and the bad body couldnt fuse again, not without force. So thats what Kreturus did. He forced the soul to reattach to me, and in doing so, corrupted it. My soul had to become like me to live within me. "

  Collin laughed coldly, folding his arms tightly to his chest. "I thought I outsmarted Kreturus. I thought that piece of soul would free me from him, but it turns out he outsmarted me. Because it doesnt matter how pure my soul was before, there is no way it will merge with my body ever again - not after living the life of a Valefar. But when he forced it, he forced the evil from hundreds of lifetimes onto that tiny piece of soul. And no soul could bear that kind of abuse. That bit of soul wasnt enough to free me from being a Valefar. It wasnt enough to lift the curse that binds me to Kreturus. " He looked haunted, revealing a memory filled with pain that he didnt want to relive. He bargained with Kreturus.

  And lost.

  I threw my arms around him and kissed his cheek. He wouldnt look me in the eye, so I placed my hands on his cheeks, and turned his face toward me. Looking him in the eyes I said, "It was still you who saved me. It was your soul, no matter how tiny, that saved me the night Jake tried to kill me. "