Chapter 23
Iwas able to snap Gaelin out of his depression only for a moment before it was time for us to attend dinner. As soon as we entered the hall, the king’s gaze locked onto me, and I felt Gaelin’s small ounce of happiness dissipate into thin air. He glanced at me from the side before taking his seat next to his wife. I moved to the wall, taking a pitcher of wine.
That night, the king took me again. I was still sore and bruised from this afternoon's encounter with him, but my mind went into survival mode, focusing on anything besides what was happening to my body. This time I focused on Erendrial’s imprint. I thought of the black marking and compared it to the one I would soon be giving myself.
He had told me that his marking appeared magically. When the dark alfar took a wife that the imprint would appear on them as well. There was no hollow needle or ink involved. I wondered if the mark I would have to make on my own skin would hurt. Hell, I didn’t care. I would probably die because of this crazy plan I had concocted, but it would be worth it to watch the life fade out of the king’s eyes—to watch his blood saturate his perfectly white robe. It was worth any price.
The king kept me around a little longer than normal that night. He continued to call me darling Genevieve. Genevieve darling. Darling Gen. I hated the sound of my name on his lips. I wanted to rip his tongue out with my fingers and make him choke on it.
Finally, he released me. I went to the linen closet where I had stored a bag that contained the hollow point needle, the black ink, the iron chains, and the apophyllite dagger Levos had given me before dinner. I wasn’t as beaten this time around, which made it easier for me to move throughout the halls. I made my way down the castle, past the main hall, past the servant’s level, and into the basement. It took me an hour of roaming before I found the place they were keeping the creatures.
The whole area smelled of blood and decaying flesh. The lab was underground, which allowed no natural light or fresh air to enter the space. They must have dug into the mountain to create this place. The walls were made of natural stone and felt damp to the touch. The only light was the candle I had with me, which didn’t provide much comfort.
I peeked through the bars into the first room. A small, child-sized creature lay dead on a wooden table. Its chest was cut in two, held apart by two hooks. The thing had no skin on its bones. Only raw muscles and tendons were visible. It didn’t have the face of a human either. It had two large black bug-like eyes that protruded from its head. Three holes where a nose should have been and a large slit for a mouth that stretched from ear to ear. I looked away, feeling sick just by the sight of the thing.
The next room that I peeked into had a winged creature displayed on the wall. It had a long beak for a snout, six arms, and five red eyes on its forehead. I continued, seeing creatures of all different forms, dissected for study to understand their origin better. Knowing these things were lurking out in the woods made my skin crawl. Gaelin was right to feel overwhelmed. Not only was he facing an unknown enemy, but there was no known way of stopping them from coming.
I opened a door to the room that contained Otar’s body. Taking a deep breath, I stepped inside, shutting the door behind me. I used my candle to light the sticks around the room, illuminating the space and Otar’s corpse. I moved in closer, looking at the thing that would deliver me from hell.
He was uglier than the images I had seen in my head. His skin was wrinkly and black like oil. His nose was long and beaked like a bird. He had thin, wrinkly lips and long fingers with shiny black talons. His body was long and gangly, thin, and sickly looking. He had no hair anywhere that I saw. A brand was burned in the left side of his chest, in the shape of a rune I had seen in one of Levos’s books. I didn’t know what it meant or stood for, but I made a mental note to look into it.
One last time, I weighed the options of what I was about to do. This was a creature from an unknown world. I didn’t know what it was capable of, or if this would work. It could kill me in a second, kill Levos and Madison. I stepped back, hesitant to continue. I breathed in, feeling my chest rise and fall. My insides cramped from the pain I had just endured under the king. No, this was worth it. It was worth any risk.
I took a deep breath, placing the candle down next to me as I remembered doing in my vision. I took the hollow point needle and dipped it into the ink and began to mark my left wrist. It stung as blood dripped from my skin, but it was bearable. When the imprint resembled the sigil I saw in my vision, I stopped and waited for it to heal. The ink remained. I smiled.
I slit my right palm, holding it over the creature’s mouth. I wrapped the iron chains around his neck, wrists, and ankles, anchoring them to the wall of the lab room. Once I was certain he wasn’t getting away, I pulled the apophyllite dagger from the bag and picked up the candle. I took a deep breath and let the candle fall onto Otar’s body. The skin of the creature caught like oil, spreading a devouring his entire form. I stepped back against the wall, shielding myself from the flames.
The fire spread, turning his skin to black ash. His form was still visible, but he was charred to a crisp. I sat against the wall, waiting to see if he would be reborn like my vision had shown me. After forty minutes of waiting, his hand moved, shaking off the old ash to reveal smooth, shining, new black skin. I stood to my feet, holding the dagger in my right hand, readying myself for anything.
Otar sat up, shaking from side to side like a dog. His eyes were a brighter shade of yellow than I recalled. His teeth were white as ivory. The talons at the end of his fingers retracted in and out as if he were flexing a muscle. He took a deep breath, tilting his head to the ceiling. He slowly brought his head down, closing his eyes as he began to purr.
“And who do I owe the thanks for this new body?” he said in a deep, hellish voice. He snapped his head to the side in a predatory motion towards me. His eyes expanded as he assessed his savior.
“My name is Genevieve Autumn. I resurrected you,” I said in a shaky tone.
“Obviously,” he said, looking his hands over. He shook the chains, realizing he was trapped. “And how did you know how to raise me, little one? I’m not from your world and no one knows my kind’s secrets.”
I swallowed hard. “That isn’t important. I want to make a deal with you,” I said, trying to get to the point.
“And why would I make a deal with something as stupid and fragile as one of you?”
“Get off the table and bow!” I said assertively.
He did as I demanded, his chains rattling with each movement. Taking a knee in front of me, he looked up at me as if he wanted to shred my skin from my muscles.
“Fall face down on the ground!” I demanded.
Again, he followed my exact command. I exhaled, hoping this wasn’t an act and he was truly under my command.
“You may get to your feet,” I said, softer.
“Seems like you know most of my secrets, meat suit,” he said, still glaring at me.
“I don’t want to harm you. I only want you to complete what you came here to do.”
“And how do you know what I came here to do?”
I stood silent, not daring to give away my secret.
He ticked his tongue, shaking his head slowly. “Very secretive, meat suit.”
“I want you to kill King Lysanthier, then his wife and daughter. Can you do this or not?”
Otar’s eyes gleamed and he smiled widely. “I am listening.”
“Tomorrow night, after the plates from the first course are cleared, I want you to enter the throne room unseen. Until then, you may stay hidden in the castle. You are not to harm, kill, steal, or be seen by anyone or thing until then. Stay in the castle and do not contact anyone outside by any means,” I said firmly.
“Attention to detail, I like,” he snapped.
“As the second course is being served, you will approach King Lysanthier from behind his chair and kill him in the most brutal way you are capable of. You will then move to his wife and then his daughter. After that, you may kill whatever other alfar in the throne room you desire. There are two alfar you are not allowed to harm: Gaelin Atros and Levos Atros. I will mark them both with my blood, so you are aware of who they are. You are not allowed to harm any human and you are not allowed to harm me. After you have had your fill of alfar flesh, you will flee and not return unless I call upon you,” I finished.
He laughed, tapping his long nails on the table. “Anything else?”
“No one is to know that I am the one who resurrected you. This stays between you and me.”
“Deal,” he said, walking towards me. He stopped as the chain holding him to the wall went taunt. He reached out his hand, touching my face with his skinny fingers. With his talons retracted, his skin felt like fresh leather. “You are either very brave or very stupid, little one,” he said, smiling.
“Tell me about your kind, and do not lie,” I demanded. I sat against the wall, facing him.
“As you wish,” he said, taking a seat in front of me. “You know the fallen Christian angel?”
“Lucifer,” I responded.
“Yes. Well, his demons are the most similar thing you know of that can be related to my kind. I come from a plane of ash and fire. My home is dead, devoured by my kind. We go to other worlds, planes, and realms searching for life to snuff out. We do not mate. We do not breed. There will never be more of us. What you see is what there is.”
“And your bond to me? How does that work?”
“I have never been bound to anyone because, as I said, no one knows our secret…which still makes me question who you are.” He waited, searching my face. “I am bonded to your life. If you die, I die. You may command me as you wish. If you die, I can be revived by another, as you did to me just now.”
“And what can permanently kill your kind?” I asked.
His face fell, his eyes squinted into small slits of anger. “An apophyllite crystal to the heart,” he said, forcing the words from his lips. He scoffed, spitting to the ground as if speaking the revelation left a foul taste in his mouth.
I pulled the dagger out from my side, holding it in my lap.
His eyes widened and his teeth began to grind together. “How did you?—”
“I don’t want to use this on you. I don’t want to kill you. My fight is not with you, and you have done me no harm, but if you are lying in any way or try to hurt those who I love, I will not hesitate to use this on you. Are we clear?” I asked.
He nodded, tilting his head. “Out of curiosity, why do you want me to kill your people?”
“They aren’t my people,” I said between my teeth.
“Not completely true,” he said, pointing to his ears.
I rolled my eyes, taking the headband from my ears. “How did you know?”
“I can smell you. It’s a delightful smell by the way. Makes my mouth water.” He smiled and licked his lips.
“You are not to tell anyone about my mixed blood either,” I said firmly.
“Well, you are no fun,” he hissed, folding his arms across his chest as if he was a toddler throwing a tantrum.
“I am allowing you to kill as many light alfar as you wish. How is that not fun?” I said, reveling at the thought.
He laughed, stretching his arms in the air. “You’re quite wicked. I like you, meat suit. Now, can we please remove the iron? It burns, and I’d rather not mark up my new body just yet.”
I was hesitant to even get close to him, but I had to for this to work. I held the apophyllite dagger in my hand as I removed the iron chains. He was small, only coming up to my chest. He continued to smile and purr as his sniffed me and moaned anytime I got too close.
“Do as I have asked,” I said nervously.
He moved so fast I didn’t see where he had gone. I turned around, searching for him, but he was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, a cold hand knocked into me, and I dropped the apophyllite dagger. It fell to the floor as Otar slammed me into the wall. His yellow eyes seemed brighter than before. He slowly leaned his face into mine. His long tongue extended out, licking ever so slowly from my jaw to my eye. He pulled away, flashing those sharp teeth.
“Delicious,” he whispered in a deep, hunting voice while drawing the word out. “I will do as I am ordered with pleasure,” he said.
I blinked and he was gone without a trace. I rushed to the dagger to arm myself, but he didn’t reappear. I was shaking with fear. I quickly gathered my supplies and left the room, turning to check behind me every few steps.
I made my way back to Gaelin’s room and entered quietly, making sure not to disturb him. I hid the bag in the armoire and went to the bathroom to bathe. Sitting in the warm water, I traced the black raised skin of the imprint on my wrist. I smiled at it, knowing this was a marking I would always be proud to wear.
I crawled into bed, still nervous about the shadows in the room. Either Otar was truthful, and my visions had been correct, or I had just freed something else that wanted to kill me. Either way, my suffering would soon be over. Gaelin shifted slowly in the bed and turned towards me. His eyes opened heavily to look up at me. I smiled at him.
“I’m okay,” I whispered.
He exhaled, reaching for me. I allowed him to wrap his arms around my waist even though the sensation made me want to run for the hills.
“We’re going to get through this in one piece. It will get better. I promise,” I whispered, settling down into the bed.