5. Willow #2
One brave root slides up, brushing the exposed skin along my ankle, and I shudder at the cool slickness of its surface. Cold. Wrong. Sick.
It winds around my calf, squeezing hard enough to cause pain, and I gasp as the sensation causes the fog of my trance to break.
Realizing what’s happening, I release a scream and stumble backward, grateful that Dagny’s steady hand on my arm keeps me from falling.
“It’s okay,” she says. “I have you. Just don’t step too close to the edge, and they can’t hurt you.”
“What… what is this thing?” I ask, my voice quaking with horror.
“To tell you the truth, I have no idea. It appeared around fourteen cycles ago, and no one knows why. The floor collapsed, leaving a gaping hole behind. Over the course of the next couple of weeks, these… roots have appeared.” Dagny turns to me with a look I don't understand.
“When did you arrive in this place, Willow?”
“W-what does that have to do with anything?”
She doesn’t blink. “Just testing a theory.”
I look from her to the gaping hole, then back to her, a sick feeling settling in the pit of my stomach as I say, “It’s been around fourteen days and nights, coincidentally…”
“Interesting,” she says. “And has anything strange been happening to you? Anything you can’t understand, like… a draw to the power in this world?”
I shake my head. It’s quite the opposite—the wild magic in this world makes my skin crawl whenever I’m exposed to it outside of my mates’ power.
“I’ve been sick since Rhune brought me here, and a while ago, my eyes got this weird red ring around them, but I haven’t felt drawn to anything except my mates.
” I conveniently leave out the part about the disembodied voice in my head proclaiming that I’m going to end the world.
That seems like a bit of a downer for a first conversation.
“Hm.” She nods slowly, digesting the information. “There’s still something I don’t understand.”
“What’s that?”
“You are not half demon, like me. Yet you were able to bond to two demons. That should not be possible if you are human.” Her cunning gaze bores into me. “What are you, Willow?”
Before I can answer, a clattering sound echoes down the tunnel behind us. The green demon rushes from the mouth into the open room, scoops Dagny into his arms, and jumps away from the pit faster than I can blink.
“What are you doing?” he cries. “It’s dangerous!”
Hearing this, I step back to the safety of the tunnel, keeping a wary eye on that glowing pit. Dangerous, indeed…
Dagny smiles and pats the green demon on the cheek. “It’s okay, Fenryr. I wasn’t in any danger.”
“You are fearless and powerful, my mate. Of course you would not think so.” He eyes her carefully. “But you were still in danger.”
She laughs softly, reaching up to place a gentle kiss on his cheek. “Thank you, love, for protecting me.”
His eyes shine bright green, and his chest rumbles with a purring sound. “Always.”
“Did you need something?” she asks. “Or did you just come to make sure I was safe?”
“Malice needs you,” he says. “He needs to speak with you about something, but he would not tell me what.”
“Hm. Best not to keep him waiting, then.” Dagny gestures for me to follow her. “Come on. I’ll show you back to your room.”
She leads me back toward the bedroom my mates are waiting in, but just before we enter, my bladder decides to make itself known.
“Um…”
“Yes?” Dagny asks.
“You don’t happen to have a little girls’ room anywhere around here?”
She laughs, pointing me down a hallway to my left. “Walk down that passage, and you’ll find it. Sorry to leave you so quickly, but I have to deal with this.”
“It’s no problem. We’ll talk later.”
“Yes.” She waves goodbye. “See you later, Willow!”
“See you!”
After waving goodbye, I make my way toward the bathroom, letting out a deep sigh of relief when I find it.
Except, as soon as I sit down, I’m interrupted by a familiar intruder.
Rough morning?
I stifle a scream as the disembodied voice breaks out in my mind. Sweet lord, not this again…
You should get used to it, babe. As I said, I’m not going anywhere.
“I remember,” I groan, throwing an arm over my eyes. “What the hell was that earlier?”
What do you mean?
“The blackout? You took over my body and tried to kill my mates? Is any of this ringing a bell?”
Oh, that. Yes, it’s all coming back to me.
“Care to explain?”
The entity lets out a deep sigh, and when it speaks, its words are laced with regret.
I will admit, that was a mistake. It was…
reckless of me. I should not have overridden your will before we were assimilated fully—your vessel could have been damaged beyond repair.
But… The serafyn releases a low growl. But when I saw the halfling, I could not help myself.
“The halfling?”
The one you call Dagny. She is a dangerous, unholy creature made from two worlds, belonging to neither. My baser instincts told me she needed to be removed from existence.
There is a long pause. I would have been successful, too, if my pea-brained vessel did not insist on rejecting me and our bond so strongly.
“I’m not pea-brained. I’m just not an evil bitch!”
Are you certain about that?
“Ugh!”
Dagny knocks on the door, startling me back to reality. “You okay, Willow? I thought I heard you talking to someone.”
“I’m fine!” Go away, I tell the voice. You’re making me look crazy.
Nonsense. You could easily avoid the accusation if you spoke to me in your head as a sane person.
“Nothing about this is sane!”
“Willow? You sure you’re okay?”
I let out a deep breath, attempting to pull myself together before responding. “Just peachy! I’ll be out in a second!”
Okay, voice. You got me. What the hell do you want?
First, it snaps. I’d appreciate it if you stop addressing me as “voice.”
I roll my eyes. I don’t exactly know your name.
You might start by asking.
“My God, you’re impossible,” I grumble under my breath. Fine. What is your name, oh wise and powerful one?
The sarcasm is not appreciated, human, it snips. But I can’t waste a millennium waiting for you to learn proper manners. My name is Psphoone.
I bite my lip to suppress a laugh. Psphoone?
Yes. Is that a problem?
No, no. It's just that… your name kinda sounds like “Spoon.”
There's a long pause. Spoon?
A spoon is a common human utensil, usually used to eat soup or ice cream—
I know what a spoon is! I am just shocked you would compare my great and noble name to such an insignificant object.
Just calling it like I hear it.
Spoon lets out a deep sigh. I do not know why the fates cursed me with this vessel, but I am sure that they hate me.
I think they hate us both. Take solace in that, Spoon. We’re in this together.
Stop calling me Spoon.
Okay. Get out of my head.
No.
Then I’m afraid I can’t grant your request, Spoon.
Spoon lets out a deep sigh. You know what? I’m going back to sleep. I’ll deal with you later.
Sleep tight, Spoon.
You are a useless vessel, and I loathe you.
Love you too, Spoon!
The voice lets loose a string of syllables that sound a lot like curses, then fades to the back of my mind, leaving me alone once more.
The weird thing is, I’m not sure that I like being alone anymore.