Chapter 55
My fingers search relentlessly, but it seems I’ve hit the bottom of the bucket.
No more popcorn for you, Barbi.
Ugh! Just when things were getting interesting, I run out of popcorn. Now I have to run back into town and see who has this dargu crop that is similar to corn in my world so I can make myself some more popcorn. It’s already rare as it is, so it will be quite bothersome.
“I should have bought more when we first went into town,” I tell PomPom as she circles around my bed. BonBon is sleeping in his bed with Ander, both of them snuggled up. He’s such a well behaved male—unlike someone else I know.
Ahhhh. So cute! I want to run over there and crush them to my chest. I don’t do that, of course. It would disturb their sleep. I’ll just have to suffer in silence from this cute-but-do-not-disturb-syndrome.
I put the empty popcorn bucket to the side and grab some chocolate.
PomPom jumps up on the bed beside me, sniffing what I have in my hands.
“Not for you, love,” I tell her gently as I pop the chocolate in my mouth. “If only there was a type of chocolate good for dogs in this world. It’s unfair you’ll never know this divine taste.”
Denied after three or four attempts, she settles at my feet, not so gently tugging on my socks.
“Fine. Have them.”
I take them off and she immediately steals one—she can’t fit both in her mouth at the same time—and runs off somewhere to munch on it.
I shake my head, smiling at her antics.
“Moe… no…” His strangled voice calls for my attention.
I glance to the side where a ceiling-high mirror reflects his current condition.
Metaphoric chains keep him suspended in a sea of red, his skin so broken, bone pokes out. Then it heals. Then I break his skin again just so I can hear him squirm a little.
Still in the Lake, he’s in the throes of a nightmare. Luckily for me, I get to not only witness it but also steer it in whatever direction I want. So far, I’m quite proud of the little appearances I’ve made in his hellish memories.
Not only can I control what he remembers and what he forgets, but I can also project Moe’s memories onto him so that his regret becomes a hundred fold.
Ah, but to see him delighted at our friendship only to realize I’ve been his jailor and torturer all along has given me far too much joy. Well, that’s what he deserves for daring to deceive me!
The gall on him to think he could just take my body and replace my soul with his beloved Moe! Agh! Just remembering that moment before he killed me—well, tried to, and failed—makes me want to double his torture.
Joke’s on him, though! Not only did I survive the Lake, but I also came out before him, just in time to ensure his journey in that bloody water would be a memorable one.
What I didn’t count on, to be perfectly honest, is seeing his past and the way he lived his life before we met. He was so wretched, even I felt sorry for him at times. Of course, not enough to forget everything he’s done quite yet. For that he needs another dose of suffering.
But seeing his past made me reconsider things and perhaps understand his point of view, too.
For so long he had nothing. Then, he only had Moe.
And for thousands of years, he hung onto her, his only refuge, the only person in the universe who accepted and loved him—his only home.
It made me ask myself whether I would do the same as him.
If it were me, would I dedicate thousands of years to a plan that might not even work?
Would I kill so many people just to get my beloved?
The answer is a resounding yes. With one difference. I could never pretend to love another just to use them, as Nykander did with me. Not only would I not be able to stomach another male’s hands on me, but I know my beloved would not appreciate my actions either.
So how did Nykander reconcile his actions with what was to come if his plan worked? If Moe was resurrected in my body, how would he explain to her that he not only killed another female for her, but that he also seduced her and fucked her too?
There’s only one answer to this: he was so desperate to get her back, he only thought about the outcome, not the process. He must have thought that once she was back, he would have an eternity to beg for forgiveness.
Ah, Nykander… What am I going to do with you?
“What’s next?” A soft voice asks from behind. I turn and see the semi-translucent version of my mother, hovering in the air and glaring daggers at Nykander.
“Seeing the past through Moe’s eyes should be the cherry on top,” I say. “I doubt he knows all the sacrifices she made for him; how she disregarded her own dreams to help him achieve his.”
“No more direct torture?” She smirks. “I still have some ways you can use to make him suffer.”
“Of course there will be more. But when I’m in the mood. Right now, I rather like this wretched expression on his face.”
She shakes her head as she moves closer to the magical mirror that gives us a glimpse into Nykander’s condition.
Although she is but a specter, a fragment of conscience Lispera left behind to meet me at the right time, she’s still awfully acerbic.
And she hates Nykander with a passion. Well, she also has a soft spot for him that she refuses to acknowledge, but I know it well enough.
“I warned him so many times not to hurt you, and he still did.”
“Well, he is an idiot. You can’t really expect him to remember things,” I mutter. “If it weren’t for me, I doubt he would even remember his own name.”
“He’s gotten better in your absence,” Lispera mentions. “He even put together that sophisticated plan to get Moe back. And I must say, he executed it quite well.”
“Are you praising him? Goodness, is the world about the end?” I laugh.
She shrugs. “Even evil acts are worthy of praise sometimes, not in their intent, but through their careful planning.”
“He had seven thousand years to get it right, mom. You’re giving him too much credit,” I groan.
“That is true.” She nods. “I’m merely trying to see the bright side of it all. Do you think I like the fact that my daughter’s mate is such an idiot?”
“You told him he was an adorable idiot,” I remind her.
“He is very singleminded when it comes to you. You have to at least admit that.”
I press my lips together. “That’s the only reason why he’s not dead right now.”
“Ah, Barbs, we both have such wretched luck with males.” She sighs as she floats next to my side. “It’s hard being the only sensible one in the relationship, is it not?”
“Are you talking about my father?”
She nods dramatically. “He’s just as stubborn if not more so than Nykander. I’m scared of what he will do when he finds out everything.”
“Everything?” I frown. She still hasn’t told me the identity of my father nor that of my twin brother no matter how many times I’ve asked. She always says that I will know at the right time, but she won’t say when that is too.
You will know, is always her answer. Well, I’m curious NOW. I want to know now, not in some theoretical future.
Ugh! Why couldn’t she pass on to me her full foretelling powers instead of just bits and pieces that only work to confuse me?
“Do not mind me. I was merely reminiscing in my head,” she says with a sigh.
“You’re a specter, mom. You don’t have a head.”
“Must you be so literal, Barbi?” She rolls her eyes at me.
“You should hurry up and come back to life since all you do is reminisce about that mysterious male.” I shake my head at her.
“You left a piece of your conscience behind to help me, but all it does is bemoan about your mate. We are torturing mine now, mom. Please wait for your turn, all right?” I say in all seriousness.
“But that’s just it, Barbi, I cannot help it. I’m just a specter.“ She sighs.
“Well, then be a good specter and make sure nothing goes wrong with my lovely guest. I’m heading into town.”
She turns to me, frowning. “Why?”
I point to the empty popcorn bucket. “I need to get more popcorn.”
Her brows are bunched together. “I do not understand this need of yours for a snack,” she adds pensively. “Torture is a very intensive process. How can you eat and torture him at the same time?”
“It’s not torture. It’s entertainment.”
“In my day, once I tortured someone, I fully dedicated myself to it,” she says as she starts reminiscing again.
“Well, that was seven thousand years ago. Keep up with the times, will you?” I laugh.
She doesn’t share my amusement. In fact, she barely hears me as she starts recounting one time when she devoted herself to torture day in and day out—my father’s torture.
After all, every time she starts talking, the subject somehow ends up revolving around her mate.
I wonder if she specifically programmed this specter to be so obsessed with her mate, or it was a by-product of her actual obsession.
“Are you sure you want to go now? I think he’s in pain.” She points out to the magical mirror that now shows Nyk writhing in pain and calling out for his beloved Moe.
“That’s nothing.” I wave my hand. “He’s currently in that jail at the Royal Palace. He’s probably just worrying about Moe.”
Lispera crosses her arms over her chest. “Are you going to appear as her in front of him again?”
“Why would I stop? That’s when I have the most fun.”
“I don’t know. I thought you’d have gotten bored by now. You have been torturing him for quite a long time already.”
“Long?” I frown. “It’s only been a few months for me. Well, granted, for him it’s been over three thousand years. But in terms of my enjoyment, I think I can go another few months. Maybe a full year?” I muse.
“Even after everything you’ve seen from his point of view?” She probes further.
She does this every now and then—she comes over and inquires about the state of my revenge and if I’ve had my fill. And always, I tell her the same thing. Not a chance in hell.
“I may pity him, but he’s still a son of a bitch.
I told him once what to expect if he crossed the line with me, so how can I not deliver it?
I’m the queen of petty after all. And this is just the beginning.
” I smile as I look upon Nykander’s pitiful form.
“Wait to see what else I have planned for him.”
To be Continued in The Birth of a Villainess