Chapter 51
51
KATERINA
T his was how Katerina found herself doing the unthinkable: standing in her bedroom, about to summon a demon.
She’d drawn the shutters tight and pushed the bed against the wall to create a wide expanse where she could cast her circle. Slowly, meticulously, she bent, using the point of one of Niko’s blades to etch the Klyuchi runes from the Book of the Lost into the wooden floorboards. She drew the symbols with care, each loop and angle precise. Who knew what she might summon instead, if she made the slightest mistake?
When she was finished, she stood back and regarded her handiwork. It looked perfect, as far as she could tell—but what did she know? It wasn’t as if she had anyone to ask.
She sank to her knees outside the circle, praying to the Saints for aid. They had given her the precious book. Surely if they understood the nature of her mission, they wouldn’t abandon her. Perhaps then she could open a portal to the demon realms without compromising her soul.
Katerina wanted to do something—anything—but this. But she had just three nights left before the Kniaz’s arrival. Three nights before she would be forced to leave for Rivki, before she’d be bonded to another Shadow. Who knew if she’d be able to reach Niko then?
She could practically hear her Shadow’s growl, hear him admonishing her to beware. That this wasn’t worth the risk. But she had no intention of listening.
Wearily, she got to her feet and made her way to the cabinet where his remaining blades were still stored, wrapped in velvet, the way he’d left them when he went to the elderflower clearing to find her that horrible night. He hadn’t taken them with him to the cottage he was meant to share with Elena, and in the aftermath of his death, Baba hadn’t demanded their return. Perhaps she believed they were tainted, like Niko’s soul. Katerina cared little for her own life, but if she died summoning this demon, who would save Niko…assuming he still existed to be saved? His blades weren’t a certainty of protection, but they were insurance, should something go wrong—especially given how unstable her magic had become.
A second blessed blade in hand, Katerina turned to regard the rest of her preparations. The wood that blazed up in her fireplace had been cut from a rowan tree, for an extra layer of protection. She’d memorized the spells in the Book of the Lost and tucked it beneath a loose floorboard, to conceal it if she failed to survive. She’d scar the circle she made with witchfire afterward, to disguise the runes, and push her bed back over the evidence for good measure.
There was nothing left to do. It was time.
Her heart pounded so hard she could barely breathe as she made her way over to the protective circle. Her back against the wall, she dragged one deep breath into her lungs, then another. And then she spoke.
“Sant Antoniya. Sant Viktoriya. Sant Andrei. I am Katerina Ivanova. Servant of the Light. Though these runes may be Dark, my purpose is far from evil. I am a Dimi of Kalach, sworn to stand by my Shadow’s side. Look into my soul and hear me, for I call on you for aid.”
The flames in the fireplace flickered in a wavering current of air, though the shutters were closed and bolted. Shadows swarmed from the corners of the room, amassing outside the circle in a vaguely human form. Panic choked Katerina, but she pressed onward.
“Saints, be with me as I call upon the Darkness, as I look into the Void. Be with me as I seek to find what’s rightly mine.” Her voice trembled as she spoke the next words. But she could swear she felt a hand on her shoulder, offering support, and it gave her the courage to continue. “I call on Sammael, Venom of God, ruler among demons. From the Underworld or the Void I call him, from the Darkness that eats all things. Wherever he roams, whatever form he takes, I call him from it. I call him with the power of the Light, and demand he come to me.”
The runes she’d inscribed in the floorboards began to glow. One by one, they lit with silver-blue hellfire. Katerina watched in horror and fascination as the circle completed itself. The last rune blazed up, and her bones ached with power as the spell snapped into place.
She staggered back, fighting to keep her feet. Inside the circle, something was happening. Particles of dust were coalescing, swirling, coming together?—
“Saints be with me,” she murmured again, clutching Niko’s blade. “Give me the strength to do what must be done.”
One second, there was a whirlwind of dust in the circle. The next, he stood there. The red-headed man from the clearing. The one that had impersonated a Shadow.
The demon Sammael. In her cottage.
Katerina had done it. She had summoned this demon from the depths. A prince of Hell, a ruler of the Underworld.
And he was not happy.
The demon spun, dark eyes wide with confusion and fury. His gaze roamed over the ceiling, the floor, the confines of Katerina’s bedroom. And then he spun, his eyes fixing on her. In their depths burned a rage that would have brought a lesser Dimi to her knees.
“Where am I?” he snapped. “What have you done to me?”
Katerina advanced, fingers digging into the blade’s handle. “I summoned you, demon. You are in my circle. An unwilling guest, if you will.”
It was a pleasure to hear the arrogance in her own voice, the tone of command, after weeks of feeling like a victim, a grieving supplicant begging for the favor of those who used to revere her. She smiled, and the demon snarled at her, baring his teeth. “Dimi Ivanova. How dare you summon me? I am Sammael, ruler of the?—”
“Oh, I know, I know.” Katerina cocked an eyebrow at him. “You don’t have to recite your many accomplishments. Eater of souls, devourer of the innocent, plague of the Seven Villages. What good will they do you, after all? Right now, you are my prisoner. And you’ll answer my questions, or I’ll cross that circle and put this blade through your heart.”
“If you cross this circle,” the demon hissed at her, “I will kill you.”
“And how do you think that will go for you? Perhaps you should ask the army of demons that sought to take my life on the road to Drezna. Oh, that’s right…you can’t.”
The demon threw himself against the boundaries of the circle, struggling to escape. Katerina watched him, eyes narrowed, her magic pulsing at her fingertips. But the circle held.
He took a step back, regarding her warily. “Gadreel was right to covet you, Dimi Ivanova. Centuries have passed since your kind have cast this kind of spell. I thought the magic had been lost. What do you want? Why have you summoned me here?”
It was such a ridiculous question, Katerina gave a bitter laugh. “What do I want? I want answers. What has Elena done to my Shadow? Is she torturing him, even as we speak? And if he exists alongside her, in whatever form…what must be done to set him free?”
“And you think I possess these answers.” He folded his arms across his chest.
It might be worth crossing the circle, simply to see the look on his face when she put Niko’s blade through his heart and set him aflame. “I know you do. I know you’re with her, wherever she is. You worked too hard to bond her to you, whatever your reason. To make her what she became.”
She glared at the demon, challenging him to defy her. He glared back at her. And finally he said, “I have the answers you seek.”
Triumph shot through Katerina. “Give them to me.”
“Let me out of the circle,” he countered, “and I will.”
Katerina snorted. “You must think I’m an idiot. If I let you out, first you’ll kill me, and then you’ll go rampaging through Kalach, on a murder spree.”
Sammael sighed, and Katerina realized he actually looked…tired. Could demons be fatigued? “I give you my word that I will not. The realm has souls aplenty right now, Katerina Ivanova. Maybe too many souls.”
Her eyebrows knit. Was he talking about the demise of Drezna and Satvala? “Then why don’t you stop taking them?” she challenged. “Why destroy our villages?”
“That wasn’t me.” He shook his head. “If you’d let me out of here, I can explain?—”
“You can explain from inside the circle.” She glared at him, jaw set. “Tell me what has befallen my Shadow. Tell me that, and I might not incinerate you where you stand.”
The demon drew himself up to his full height. His red hair glinted in the light that emanated from the runes. “After Elena chained your Shadow’s soul to hers, you tried to cast us both into the Void, but succeeded only in banishing us to the Underworld. So…there she stays. And your unfortunate inconvenience of a Shadow with her.”
Hearing this, Katerina swallowed hard. Relief coursed through her at the knowledge that her actions hadn’t cursed Niko to wander the limitless Darkness of the Void for all eternity, even if it meant that the demons and Elena still remained a threat. Still, it boiled her blood and broke her heart anew to envision her Shadow, a creature of the Light, trapped in Sammael’s realm, enslaved to the woman who had taken his life.
“I have tried to make her comfortable there, to make a home for her,” the demon went on. “To make her happy. But she is filled with rage. She blames you for the death of the Shadow and for your curse. She commands the Shadow to do her bidding. To love her. And when he refuses…her wrath is a terrible thing.”
A knot of anguish formed in Katerina’s throat, threatening to choke her. Aside from dooming Niko to the Void forever, this was what she had feared most.
“Dimi Ivanova.” His voice was low, persuasive. “I know how you must miss him. Let us strike a bargain that will benefit us both.”
Katerina bared her teeth. “I don’t bargain with demons! Unless you plan to end Elena once and for all, and give my Shadow peace, then you have nothing I want.”
“I think,” the demon said, offering her a terrible smile, “that you’ll find I have something better to offer you. It’s good fortune, really, that you summoned me this way. For if you hadn’t, I had planned to come to you. We are running out of time.”
She regarded him, puzzled. “You mean because the Reaping?—”
He shook his head impatiently. “I care nothing for your foolish human games. Surely you see that the duplicate Bone Moon is rising, thinning the veil between your realm and the Underworld once more. It is…a chance. An opportunity. Once, and once only, will this door be open to us. If you want to see your Shadow again, you will listen to what I have to say.”
Torn, Katerina tilted her head, taking his measure. He stared back at her, motionless in her circle of runes.
She thought of everything she had already lost. Of the Reaping, just three days away. Of Niko, condemned to suffer at the hands of a woman who had been devoured by the Dark. And she knew if she didn’t do everything in her power to save him, she would never forgive herself.
“Speak, then,” she told the demon.
“First,” Sammael began, sitting cross-legged inside the circle, “there is the matter of the Darkness that devoured Drezna and Satvala.”
Katerina tilted her head, eyes intent on his face. “What about it?”
He ran a hand through his close-cropped hair. “At first, I thought it was a tool of Gadreel’s. That his power had grown exponentially. But then I came to realize the truth. Gadreel did set the Darkness free, thinking he could use it to bolster his strength. But he got more than he had ever bargained for. It was…hungry. And he could not control it.”
A shudder ran through Katerina. “You mean—it’s acting independently of him? Of any of you?”
Sammael nodded gravely. “It is sentient, in some way. Although all it wants is to devour. I believe this is why Gadreel desires you so badly. He needs a powerful partner in the Light to drive it back into the Void. To chain it, once again.”
Horror bubbled inside her, and she drew her knees up, gripping them. “If I don’t help him, then what will happen?”
“We will all die,” Sammael said simply. “Demon, Dimi, Shadow, Vila, and non-magical human alike. For the Underworld is fueled by souls, and if the Darkness takes them all…”
His voice trailed off, but he didn’t need to finish speaking. Katerina understood.
“I won’t be his puppet,” she said, her voice tight. “Not as Elena is yours. If he had me that way, he would never let me go.”
A strange look flashed across the demon’s face, as if the notion of manipulating Elena that way was…offensive to him. Was that possible? Could demons want anything other than to possess and destroy?
But Katerina didn’t have time to contemplate it, because the demon was speaking again. “I understand that. I also know how much stronger you are with your rightful Shadow by your side. Whoever your nobleman chooses to bind you to, it will never be as strong as the one you had with Niko Alekhin. And until you are bonded to another, the bond you have with Shadow Alekhin still remains, in some form.”
Katerina’s brows knitted. “You know a great deal about Shadows and Dimis, demon. Perhaps too much.”
“I have lived for many years.” He waved a hand, dismissing this. “You want your Shadow back. I want him gone from the Underworld. You want Gadreel to leave you alone. I want him punished for what he’s done. And most importantly, we both want the Darkness banished, lest it take our lives and destroy everything we’ve sought to protect. Let us strike a bargain.”
The idea that Katerina might somehow be able to get Niko back had never occurred to her. The most she’d dared to pray for was that she could set his soul free and help him be at peace. She leaned forward, trying not to let her hope show on her face. “Get him back, how? Alive, or just his shade? And why do you want him gone from the Underworld?”
That odd look flickered across the demon’s face again. “I told you. If he is restored to you, in whatever form, then he can fight by your side. Together, you can defeat Gadreel and drive the Darkness back into the Void, where it belongs. I will help you, in secret, so your fellow witches and your nobleman never have to know you allied yourself with a demon. Your reputation will be safe, your Shadow will be returned to you, and the Darkness will be secured once more. And I will take my rightful place as ruler of all the demon realms, as I should have long ago.”
Katerina couldn’t have cared less about the rivalry between Gadreel and Sammael. What she did care about was this: if the demon wasn’t lying, he was handing her the key to saving Iriska. To restoring her reputation. And, just maybe, to rescuing her Shadow. It was more than she’d dreamed was possible. But?—
She dug her nails into her palms. “Are you saying that Gadreel is responsible for the Darkness that’s devouring Iriska? The failure of the crops, Niko’s death, Nadia and Oriel’s disappearance, the fall of Satvala and Drezna…all of it is due to him and him alone?”
The demon’s eyes widened the smallest bit, as if she had surprised him. “What else could be the cause of it?”
Katerina’s heart found its way into her throat, choking her. She tried to speak, but all that came out was a croak.
If Gadreel was responsible—if his greedy, foolish actions had summoned the Darkness—then was it possible that Katerina wasn’t to blame? That the crushing weight she’d been carrying, the conviction that her very existence compromised everything she vowed to protect, wasn’t hers to bear? She gasped for breath, struggling to find words.
Sammael approached the edge of the circle, peering at her curiously. “Are you quite well, Dimi Ivanova? If only you would release me, I might be able to lend assistance.”
The demon was inches from her, separated only by the magical barrier that bound him. He looked, she realized, like her dark mirror: same red hair, same ink-black eyes. Had he chosen this form on purpose, to antagonize her?
It was that thought, more than anything else, that allowed her to find her voice. “I’m fine,” she managed, lifting her chin. Again she felt that strange presence beside her, the sense of a hand on her shoulder, centering her. Sant Antoniya, perhaps? Could it be?
She had prayed for aid. Perhaps it had arrived.
“I beg to differ,” the demon said, cocking his head. He looked…amused. “Tell me. What do you believe is responsible for this mayhem, if not Gadreel’s regrettable, impulsive behavior?”
If there was one thing Katerina couldn’t abide, it was mockery. “There is a prophecy,” she said stiffly. “Well known among our kind. It says that if a Dimi and Shadow fall in love, it will bring about the end of Iriska. It will doom us all.”
At this, the demon’s smile began to widen. And then he was laughing, a cold sound that echoed off the walls of Katerina’s cottage. He laughed so hard he doubled over, his hands on his knees.
Katerina fought the desire to cross the circle and plunge a knife into his chest. “Will you shut up? ” she hissed at him. “If we’re caught here, the Saints only know what they will do to me. And they will most definitely kill you.”
Sammael’s laughter cut off, as if sliced through with the very blade with which Katerina had wanted to impale him. When he straightened, the mirth had vanished from his face. “They can try,” he said, and bared his teeth at her.
She ignored him. “Explain yourself,” she said, endeavoring to keep her voice level, not to reveal how much the answer mattered to her. “What’s so funny?”
The demon waved a hand. “You humans and your foolish prophecies. Since the dawn of time, you have been fond of them,” he said, amusement once again lurking in the depths of his black eyes. “As if anything you could say—anything you could do— could unleash something like this.”
Katerina’s mind raced. Baba Petrova believed Katerina to be so powerful that her gifts had summoned the Darkness from the depths as a counterbalance. Had her existence created the opportunity for Gadreel to attack? Had it somehow strengthened the demon, given him the edge he needed to free the Darkness—and then her secret desire for Niko, their illicit love for each other, had tipped the balance? But if she were to blame…why would the Saints be helping her now? Would they not wish to strike her down, instead?
“You are a powerful witch, Dimi Ivanova,” the demon said, his voice smoke-rough, as if he had read her thoughts. “I mean no insult to your gifts. But what is happening now…it takes a prince of Darkness to bring it about. Much as I detest Gadreel, he is a formidable agent of the Dark. You and Niko Alekhin’s dalliances, however much they might mean to you and your ways—they are not responsible for this.”
Katerina tried to leash the joy that flooded her at his words, but she must have done a poor job, because the demon smiled. It was a terrible sight. “I see I have alleviated your worries. Truly, your village blames you for all that has befallen the realm? They must believe you to be omnipotent indeed.”
She stared at Sammael, assessing him. Everyone knew demons lied. But what would he gain from this falsehood? If he was telling the truth, though, what was the significance of the prophecy? Was it possible, as he implied, that it meant nothing? Was it just words in a dusty book, as Niko had often said? Or did it mean something else entirely? The Dark will fall. The shadow will rise. Could it be?—
“You are pondering something,” the demon said. He stood as close to the boundary of the circle as he could, his eyes fixed on her face. “Let me give you more to consider. As I’ve said, in three nights the false Bone Moon will rise. Brought about as it is by the growing strength of the Darkness, it will create…how would you think of it? A two-way portal, let us say. Then and only then will a Dimi of the Light be able to make her way to the Underworld. Then and only then will an enslaved spirit of the Dark be able to leave.”
Ice shot through Katerina’s veins, as deadly as the plague that had cursed their fields. It was all she’d wanted—to find Niko, to set him free. But her plan, such as it was, had depended on stealth. To descend into the depths of Hell with the full knowledge of a demon…to do so on his invitation…she could think of few things more dangerous. Or more terrifying.
“You would open the way for me?” Her magic gathered around her, a protective shroud, so heavy she could feel its weight on her skin. “What do you want in return?”
The demon staggered back a step, as if even through the circle, the press of the Light pained him. His lips set in a thin, disapproving line. “I am doing nothing to damage you, Dimi Ivanova. You have already trapped me in this damnable circle. Was there really a need for that?”
Her magic swelled, a storm cloud shot through with lightning. Sparks gathered at her fingertips. A wind of her own making blew, lifting her hair and flaring the flames in her hearth. “Answer my question.”
“I told you,” the demon said, examining his shirt cuffs as if nothing more fascinating existed in all the world. “You are stronger with your Shadow. Gadreel is shortsighted. He believes if he captures you and forces you to do his bidding, you will be strong enough to hold back the Dark. But I know better. I’ve heard tales of what you and Niko Alekhin can do. Gadreel fears that the two of you, together, would defeat him…and perhaps you would. But I fear that without your rightful Shadow, you do not stand a chance of driving the Darkness back into the Void.” He tugged the bottom of his shirt straight, as if he were on his way to a fine affair rather than trapped in Katerina’s circle. “Of course, then you can defeat Gadreel once and for all. It is a mutually beneficial arrangement.”
The invisible presence beside her grew stronger. It was no longer comforting, no longer lending her strength. Now, it was filled with warning. If the Saints were trying to tell her something, Katerina would do her best to listen.
“You lie.” Katerina held his dark eyes with her own. “I think you covet Elena Lisova, demon. You claimed her. You trained her. You cannot stand that she believes she loves another. You want him gone, so you can have her to yourself.”
The demon’s lips drew back from his teeth, and he hissed at her like the snake she knew him to be. “He is a dog. I can offer her everything, and yet she chooses to cavort with a beast. She was mine. She will be mine again.”
In his eyes shone nothing but madness and greed. This was his true nature, the devil behind the carefully cultivated facade. But it didn’t frighten Katerina. On the contrary, relief swept over her. They understood each other at last.
Elena was his vulnerability, as Niko was hers. For the sake of whatever twisted emotions Sammael felt for her, he would do anything—just as Katerina would do anything to save her Shadow. Yes, he was driven to defeat Gadreel and drive back the Darkness. But that was strategy; this was passion. It was a chink in his armor, and she intended to exploit it.
“Go on, then, demon,” she said, and offered him a small, satisfied smile. “I’m listening.”