Chapter 10
Petra
“I was wondering when I’d finally get to meet you.”
Cal’s sword was raised again, its point following the echoes of the lilting female voice bouncing off the walls of…
a cave? He blinked in confusion, though I could tell he was trying not to let it show as he took in our suddenly new surroundings.
It was dim, but my eyes still had to adjust after the pitch black of the Darkness Beyond.
The room was void of furniture save for a single chair, its deep blue upholstery worn and tattered at the edges.
None of it was out of the ordinary, none of it alarming, except for what that single chair was facing.
One wall of the cave was flat, towering so high I couldn’t see where it ended.
Attached to the wall were wooden shelves, swallowed by darkness the higher I looked.
And on each shelf were vials — thousands of them, each with something inside, though I couldn’t tell what.
Whatever was in them emitted some sort of dim light.
Not like the glow that came from the rubies in Cal’s sword, but a glow nonetheless. Some sort of apothecary?
Cal’s eyes met mine for a split second, a silent question in his gaze. Where was she?
I took a steadying breath, calling out into the cave. “Had I known it’d be so easy to find you, maybe I would’ve come a long time ago.”
And there she was, emerging from a deep alcove that was hidden between two outcroppings of craggy stone. Deep auburn hair fell in cascading waves over shoulders cloaked in moth-eaten robes. Her skin was tawny, her eyes gleaming silver in the torchlight.
She was the most stunning woman I’d ever seen, and something about her appearance was deeply, deeply unsettling.
A part of me retreated at the sight of her, as if some tiny sliver of my being that recognized her power and the grave danger it meant.
She looked nothing like I’d imagined she would, nothing like the shriveled old crone with knobby fingers and straw-like hair I’d conjured in my brain.
Holy shit. I’d done it. I’d managed to get us to the Sanguilite’s Realm.
“Even if you knew how easy it was, you wouldn’t have visited me until now.
” Her voice was too smooth, so silky and melodic it wrapped around my throat like a strip of velvet.
With an unsettlingly fluid grace, she seemed to float over the floor, easily pulling the chair away from the wall of shelves and turning it to face us.
Those silver eyes were sharp on me as she lowered herself to sit.
“Well, here I am,” I answered, but it sounded weaker than I wanted it to. Dammit.
“Here you are,” she said on a deep exhale.
A perfectly arched brow rose when her eyes landed on Cal, a disconcerting smile splitting her lips and revealing startlingly white teeth.
Her eyes roved down his body, pausing when it landed at the sword on his hip.
“Human?” she asked, her tone curious on the surface, but something darker lurked just beneath.
“Yes, your Majesty,” he answered easily.
“I am no more Majesty than Malosym is.” She cocked her head, the movement eerie as her attention remained on Cal. “Never have I had a human soul here in my realm with their body still attached.”
Every once of my muscles tensed in the wake of the chill that crept up my spine. But Cal somehow managed to appear unbothered, completely relaxed. “No?” he asked casually, shifting his weight as if he were bored.
“There are only four places a human can be. They spend their life in the Human Realm, of course, and then most find their way to Heaven or Hell upon death. But the greediest find themselves here in my realm, and even then, only their souls. Their bodies rot in the dirt, but their souls are mine to keep. So tell me, human, how did you end up here, as you are, in my realm?”
Cal was doing a much better job than I was at keeping his expression neutral. His arms crossed over his broad chest. “I found a way.”
“Delightful. And you have such a pretty exterior, too.” She was practically purring as she stared up at Cal.
Somehow, even though we were the ones standing over her, it was clear she was the one who held the power in this cave.
She stared at him as if she wanted to consume him, as if Cal was prey and she was sharpening her teeth.
“You would be perfect for my collection.”
Possessiveness, hot and angry, flared to life in my chest. Actually, no, not possessiveness so much as protectiveness. Some rage-inducing mix of the two, perhaps.
Cal shifted beside me again, feigning nonchalance, boredom. But tension began to ripple off him. “Your collection?” he asked.
The Sanguilite leaned back in her chair, elbows hanging over the armrests leisurely as she gestured to the wall beside her. “ They’re beautiful, aren’t they?” the Sanguilite mused, staring up at the shelves upon shelves of jars and vials.
I took a tentative step closer, ignoring the Sanguilite’s smile that was blindingly bright in my periphery.
The fragments of light pulsed within the containers, some of them vibrating, some of them knocking against the glass that separated them from the outside, some of them resting against the bottom and dimmer than the rest.
Cal was the only human with his body still attached . The greediest of souls found themselves here .
My mouth went dry, my stomach bottoming out as my chest tightened. “Are those…”
“Souls, yes,” the Sanguilite answered with a satisfied hum as her eyes moved up and down her collection. “Souls sacrificed through blood magic. Go ahead, take a closer look.”
Nausea roiled in my gut, bile climbing up the back of my throat as I turned back to Cal. My eyes met his, and though he was trying to appear unruffled, there was fear in his eyes. Pure, unbridled fear.
“These bring some joy to the monotony. Besides, humans are well aware of what is lost when calling upon blood magic. Every soul here found their way to me by choice.”
I swallowed hard. “You were in the Old World. You saw it burn.”
“I was, and I did. You think this world you live in is new, but it is simply the newest. I lived through the world before this, and the one before that, and every one before that. And every time the world burns, every time some supposed higher power believes they’re making the right decision by burning their world to ash, I remain. ”
I stared into her eyes, into the swirling silver pools that held knowledge so ancient, my mind had no way to comprehend their depth. “What are you?”
A sinister smile pulled up at her lips, those ancient eyes reflecting an unseen darkness.
“I am older than time itself. I’ve been here longer than any man or woman or king or saint.
I am eternal.” Boredom quickly flashed across her features as her posture loosened, all traces of that chilling intensity gone.
“Eternity gets tedious. And eternity does not preclude the effects of time. Who wants to spend time aging, withering and wasting away? Beauty is a small price for humans to pay in pursuit of what they truly desire.”
Cal had gone as still as I had. Was his jaw as tight as mine? Was his stomach tied in the same knots mine was? “And the souls?” I asked, fighting to keep my voice even.
“I can only take so much beauty before the well runs dry,” she answered as if it were obvious.
“I needed more. What else does a human have to give me? I have no use for money or land or a throne. But a soul…” She sat back again, a satisfied smile on her face.
“They make the most beautiful decoration, don’t you think? ”
Cal and I were silent as the echoes died down and an eerie silence descended. “Has Malosym tried to infiltrate your realm?”
The Sanguilite threw her head back, a melodic laugh chiming around us before she looked back to Cal, a hunger in her eyes that made my skin crawl. “Malosym knows better than to come anywhere near my realm.”
Cal’s brows knit together. “Because he’s not strong enough to enter?”
“Because I can kill him.”
My eyes flew wide, my body jolting at her words. “You can kill him?”
“Sure,” she answered, bored once again.
Oh, thank the fucking Saints. I wanted to turn to Cal, jump up and down in excitement. She could kill him. She was our answer, she was the key to this. Cal had gone rigid beside me, his brain no doubt flipping through the same thoughts mine was.
I took a step forward. “How can we convince you to kill him? ”
She scoffed. “You think I have any interest in ending his pathetic life?” Her sky blue eyes rolled in her head. “As far as I’m concerned, Malosym is an overgrown child throwing a fit. I have far better things to do than spend even a moment of my time on that pitiful excuse of a being.”
“Do you want my soul?” I blurted. “Take it.”
Cal jolted behind me. “Petra–”
“If it’ll be enough to convince you to kill Malosym, it’s yours.” My lungs stilled, my words hanging in the air between us as Cal protested behind me.
“Your soul, Daughter of Katia, is not mine to take,” she answered, silencing Cal. And I couldn’t read the look on her face, nor could I decipher the tone in which she spoke. Dismay? Anger? “Perpetuity does not grant me the right to bend the laws of the universe.”
And just like that, my excitement was gone. If I had my flames right now, my palms would be sparking to life. “So what, you’re just going to condemn the rest of the world to death?”
She sucked her teeth, cocking her head as she stared at me. “You’re the one prophesied to burn this world. So burn it and be done.”
I narrowed my eyes, furrowing my brows. “You want me to burn the world to the ground?”
“I’ve been here since before the clock started ticking. I’ll be here when it runs out and long after.”
“Please, just–”
“I can restore your powers,” she cut in, peering back at me with that same unreadable expression. My eyes must’ve widened in surprise, because she leaned forward slightly. “That’s the real reason you’re here, is it not?”