Chapter 56
56
KATERINA
“ I propose,” Sammael said, “a compromise.”
Katerina’s eyes slid to the demon, her expression wary. “Excuse me?” she said, just as Elena snapped, “I think not. No proposal that includes the word compromise is worth my time.”
For once, Katerina found herself in perfect agreement with the Vila. “Well, you do have so much of it,” she said. “Time, that is. Perhaps you ought to at least listen to your beloved. After all, he’s gone to so much trouble to bring me here.”
The demon shot Katerina a look that suggested she wasn’t helping matters. Katerina glared back at him. She wasn’t in the demon-helping business.
“I propose,” the demon said again, leaning back against the stone hearth and crossing his legs at the ankle, “that the Shadow spend six months above ground, roaming the earth as he chooses, and six months below, with you, my Vila. During that time, you will have him to yourself, to do with him as you will.”
The words chilled Katerina to the bone. What, exactly, had Elena been doing with her Shadow? What more would she do, if given the chance?
Beside Elena, Niko’s shade bared his teeth, and Katerina could well imagine the growl that rumbled from his chest. The Vila cocked her head, eyes bright as a magpie spying a sparkling bit of metal. “And when he’s above ground…”
“Demand that the Dimi lift the curse she placed upon you.” Sammael shrugged one elegant shoulder. “And then you will move between the Underworld and the world above at your will. You need never be without your Shadow, if that is what you desire.”
Elena considered this. And then a vicious smile lit her face. Deep in her ocean-blue eyes, obsidian flames blazed. “Hmmm,” she said. “That is a compromise only for Katerina, is it not? For I would have all that I desire. Perhaps I can forgive your betrayal, Sammael. After all, you had my best interests at heart.”
Sammael raised a single red brow in acquiescence, and Katerina clenched her fists. “This is what you intended all along,” she accused him. “You tricked me. You never meant to set Niko free.”
“What did you expect?” The demon’s voice was almost…kind. “You made a deal with the devil. Well, a devil, anyhow.”
“You basta?—”
“If you’re going to call me names,” Sammael said, plucking a shard of glass from his sleeve and tossing it from one hand to the other, “you might as well know the truth. I followed you to your Shadow’s grave. I enchanted the stones of the desecrated chapel and planted the Book of the Lost beneath them, so that you would find it and summon me. I feigned surprise when I found myself in your circle. Luring you here was always my intention. And it worked just as I planned. Humans…” He dropped the shard of glass onto the ground and crushed it to bits beneath his shoe. “So easy to manipulate. Not even a challenge.”
“You…?” Katerina’s stomach plummeted as Elena’s lips rose in a smug, satisfied smile. Not the Saints, then. A demon. And she’d played into his hands from the start.
You know a great deal about Shadows and Dimis, demon , she’d told him. Perhaps too much. And how had he replied? I have lived for many years. But that wasn’t the whole truth, was it? All along, he’d had the Book. He’d seen her visit Niko’s grave, heard her pour out her heart to her fallen Shadow. And then he’d hidden the Book beneath the stones, and spelled them to respond to a drop of her blood.
Katerina had been a fool.
“I accept the compromise!” Elena said cheerily, gesturing to the table, set with the Vila’s wedding china. “Will you have a drink on it, Katerina? To seal our bargain?”
Niko’s transparent fists were clenched at his sides now, every muscle in his lean body tensed and his expression tight with rage. His gaze fixed on Katerina, and his lips formed a single, silent word over and over: No. No. No.
Though it pained her to do it, Katerina glanced away. “Like I would drink anything you gave me,” she said, the sarcasm reflexive. Beneath it, her mind was churning.
Of course, Sammael had never intended to let Niko go. If Katerina had been thinking clearly, she would’ve realized that from the start. Freeing him would hurt Elena, and in his twisted way, he cared for the Vila. Besides, Elena would never agree to being parted from Niko. That much was clear.
But perhaps this bargain was the best Katerina was going to get. Lifting the curse was troublesome, to be sure, a blow to Katerina’s pride as well as to justice. It was the punishment Elena deserved, to be banished forever from her home and from the Light for murdering Niko and aligning herself with the Dark. For nearly bringing the Darkness down upon Kalach.
But Katerina wasn’t strong enough to kill Elena here. If she could get the Vila above ground, though, where they were on equal footing… There, Katerina and Niko would be together again. With her Shadow at her side, the two of them would be formidable enough to defeat the Vila and drive the Darkness back. Katerina would tell Baba what she had done, explain Gadreel’s folly, send word to the Magiya, and together they would fix everything.
She cleared her throat. “I accept,” she said.
Triumph glimmered in Elena’s fire-shot eyes. “Then lift the curse, Dimi Ivanova. Do it now.” She stamped her foot, like a child having a tantrum.
Katerina had never cursed anyone before, much less tried to undo such a binding. But she had given her word. And for Niko’s life, she had to try.
Praying she wasn’t making a terrible mistake, Katerina reached for the fraying tendrils of her power, drawing them up and through her soul, spilling Light into her fingertips. She forced herself to truly see Elena—not the damned woman who stood before her, but the aura that surrounded her, desecrated and stained. A hint of Light glimmered at its center, near where Elena’s heart might still beat. But the rest…it was a cold, cold thing, dark with gossamer threads of corruption, clouded with shadows. Through it, like chains of gilded iron, wound the silvery bindings of Katerina’s curse. They wrapped Elena from head to toe, passing through the floorboards and anchoring her to the earth beneath the cottage. They were a fearsome sight.
“Once, I cursed you, Elena-of-the-Void, now beloved of Sammael, vessel of the Darkness,” she said, imbuing each word with her diminishing power, praying it would be enough. “ Cleaved to a demon, may your soul walk in chains. You bound yourself to Sammael, Venom of God, of your own free will. I can’t undo such a thing. But now I retract the curse I placed upon you. May the ties that bind you loosen; may your spirit be set free. May you rise from the Underworld as you please, and walk among the living once more.”
Niko’s shade glanced desperately between Katerina and the Vila, shaking his head. He was speaking, a silent spill of words from which Katerina could only make out Stop and Katerina and Don’t. His hands rose, clutching his throat, as if to force the sound from it, but nothing came. Gritting his teeth, he tried to take a step toward Katerina. But his leg froze in midair, and then, as if an invisible chain reeled him backward, his foot sank down and he stood by Elena’s side once more. Frustration washed over his features, and his lips moved again, forming what Katerina was sure was a plea.
I’m so sorry, my Shadow, she thought, and wished he could hear.
Drawing a deep breath, Katerina focused not on Niko but on the cursed woman who stood beside him. The air in the cottage trembled and the floorboards strained beneath the Vila’s feet, as if the chains Katerina had visualized were real. She concentrated her waning strength, trying to break them, but the links held, as if soldered by Sant Antoniya herself.
Elena howled as the chains sank deeper into her ankles, wrapped tighter around her body in its iridescent, shimmering gown. She pressed one hand to her heart, where the tiny Light still burned. “What have you done? Make it stop!” she shrieked.
Grimly, Katerina fought to keep her promise, to unwind the chains of her curse from the Vila’s aura. But they were tangled too firmly, and the more Katerina struggled to loosen them, the more stubbornly they clung. It was as if a force beyond Katerina’s own will had placed them there. No matter what she did, she couldn’t set the Vila free.
She fell back at last, panting, exhausted. The world ran before her eyes in streamers of gray, and she had to grab for the back of the settee to keep from falling. As she watched, steadying herself, the chains loosened until they were as they had been before.
Elena ceased whimpering and turned accusatory eyes on her. “Nothing’s changed,” she said, pointing a finger at Katerina. “You didn’t keep our bargain!”
Katerina opened her mouth to tell the Vila that she’d done the best she could. But to her surprise, the demon got there first. “Dimi Ivanova did, indeed, try to lift the curse,” he said, and Katerina could’ve sworn she heard regret in his tone. “Alas, my Vila, the Darkness grips you too tightly to let you go.”
“ Grips me too tightly? ” Elena tugged at the lace that hemmed her wrists, as if it, rather than the Darkness, restrained her. “What do you mean?”
“He means,” Katerina said, “that your soul is far too corrupt, Elena. The Darkness has claimed you, and my curse merely adds to its power. This is where you belong. Perhaps the Saints themselves could free you; I cannot.” Her lips rose in a fierce smile. “Here you are, and here you’ll stay, in this foolish, pathetic replica of your cottage. Give me my Shadow, and say goodbye until six months hence. For you shall never go home again.”
Rage distorted Elena’s fine features. Her blue eyes glimmered, coal-black flames gleaming in their depths. “I’ll do no such thing! This is all your fault,” she snarled at Katerina. “You did this to me.”
“You did it to yourself,” Katerina retorted. “ You allied yourself with a demon. You made a devil’s bargain for the soul of my Shadow. You took my Shadow’s life and forced me to curse you to eternal Darkness, lest the corruption that claimed your soul devour all of Kalach.”
“He is not your Shadow!” Elena shrieked, so loudly that the glass of the remaining windowpanes shuddered. “He is mine! Now, always, and forever mine! And I’ll prove it to you.”
She stalked closer to Katerina, stopping a foot away. Darkness stirred in the depths of her eyes, a storm brewing beneath the surface of the sea.
“I may have made a pact with you,” Elena said, fitting one long-fingered hand around Niko’s neck like a collar. Katerina wanted to rip it from her wrist. “But you didn’t uphold your side of the bargain. I offer you one more chance, for I am a merciful Queen.”
Queen of what? Katerina wanted to say. Queen of this cottage? Long may you reign, broken wedding china, frayed wedding dress, and all. But by a miracle, she managed to hold her tongue.
“I bound my Shadow to me in death, as Baba Petrova bound him to you in life,” Elena said, greed coursing beneath the surface of her high, musical voice. “If you believe you still have a claim on him—that you can call him from my side—then I dare you to try, here in my realm where you have no power. Here, where I rule.”
Katerina’s breath caught. Could she do such a thing? Niko’s soul was, indeed, bound to Elena’s; the fact that he had disappeared with her into the portal when Katerina had banished Elena and the demons was irrefutable proof. Here, Elena shone and Katerina was the weak one. What if she couldn’t do what Elena demanded?
The Vila was scrutinizing Katerina, triumph burning bright in those infernal eyes. Steeling herself, she forced the familiar arrogance into her voice. “ Rule seems a bit of an exaggeration. This is Sammael’s realm, not yours. You’re merely a guest; you exist at his pleasure.” She regarded the Vila, nostrils flaring with scorn. “Remember, Elena, Niko chose me, above and beyond Baba’s bond. He’ll choose me again.”
The Vila hissed, an inhuman, serpent-like sound. The flames that flickered in her eyes flared higher, her irises swallowing the sclera, until they were nothing but blue fire. The walls of her cottage shuddered and wavered. “We’ll see about that.”
She tightened her grip on Niko’s throat, yanking his head down until the Shadow had no choice but to meet her eyes. “You are mine , Niko Alekhin. If you love me—if our love is true—then you will stay by my side. Show Katerina that your bond with her is broken. That you care more for me than you ever did for her.”
Niko’s image blinked out of existence once more. When it materialized again, Katerina could see the tendrils of corruption winding through it, the veins of Darkness threaded through his Light, as if Elena’s command had summoned them. Her stomach roiled at the sight.
“A fair fight, then,” Katerina said, forcing her voice not to betray the terror she felt. “If I win, you must agree to uphold the terms of our bargain. And if you win, I’ll leave the Underworld, and Niko’s soul will be forfeit to the Dark.”
Elena’s eyes slid to Sammael, who hadn’t moved from the hearth. “It is a true bargain, my Vila,” he said, his voice devoid of expression, as if he too was trying to conceal the true nature of his feelings. “It is not the Dimi’s fault she could not free you from your bond with the Darkness. She acted in good faith.”
Elena scoffed, as if the very idea were ludicrous, then stepped forward and traced a rune in the air. Katerina recognized it from her bonding ceremony with Niko: the sigil for a promise made. Only here, it burned with the silver-blue flames of the damned. “I give my word,” she said. “If you win, then for six months of the year, Niko will walk above ground. If you lose, then he will stay here, with me, for eternity. I place my mark on it.”
Her word. Now Katerina was the one to scoff, for what was the word of such a creature worth? But she reached out and traced Elena’s rune with what remained of her own magic. Her hand trembled with the energy it took to pull the Light from the depths of her being. “I, too, give my word and place my mark.”
The runes flared together, one silver-blue with the flames of the inferno, the other red-gold with Light. For an instant, they blazed so brightly, Katerina was nearly blinded. And then, with a sucking sound that threatened to steal all the air from the room, they winked out, leaving the Vila and the Dimi facing each other. The transparent image of Niko’s shade stood by Elena’s side, laced with that ghastly Darkness.
“It is done,” Sammael said into the silence.
The Vila began to laugh, an unhinged cackle that echoed off the walls of the cottage. “Excellent,” she said. “Call my Shadow from my side if you can, Dimi Ivanova. Call him not with the shreds of your weakening magic, nor with your severed bond. Call him with the force of what he feels for you, and watch as he moves not from my side.”
Digging deep, deep down inside herself, Katerina mustered what remained of her gift and called it to her hand. It came, but reluctantly, like a creature that had been beaten too many times and hesitated to return to its master. Her power was afraid here, she realized. And without her power, what was she capable of? What could she do? She was a Dimi, born to wield the Light. In its absence, she was nothing more than a woman who had lost the man she loved and taken a foolish risk, sacrificing everything to get him back again. She was nothing more than Elena, who had made a dangerous bargain with a demon and would have to pay the price.
Katerina channeled all of her strength, as she had when she incinerated the Grigori army on the road to Drezna. The roots of her power strained in the soil of her soul, threatening to rip free as she fought to imbue Niko’s soul with Light.
Her Shadow’s image solidified, brightening. He took one strained step away from Elena, then another, his jaw set and his muscles trembling, as if every inch were agony. With a growl, Elena reached for him— through him—to pull him back. But there was no need; the Light dimmed and he stumbled backward once again. His eyes met Katerina’s, deep with sorrow. Then his lips moved, and with a pang that took her through the heart, Katerina made out what he was trying to say: I’m sorry.
Her Shadow, who had sacrificed himself to save her, who was the bravest person Katerina had ever known, was apologizing to her.
She held his gaze, trying to tell him this wasn’t over, that she had no intention of giving up. Beside him, Elena was laughing, telling Katerina she had won, Niko was hers, the pact was made?—
She lunged for the Vila’s throat, drawing on the dregs of her power. Hands around Elena’s neck, she called on what remained of her Light, determined to set the Vila aflame.
Elena shrieked as they fell to the floor, witchfire blazing up around them, overturning the table. The shards of the broken tea set bit into Katerina’s leather gear as she sought to strangle the Vila—if indeed she could be killed. But as she tightened her grip on Elena’s throat, the Vila’s skin illuminated with those silver-blue flames. They scorched Katerina’s fingertips with a cold so intense it stole her breath, and she fell away from the Vila with a gasp as the last of her power drained from her.
She felt so strange. Empty. Hollow. As if she were a shell of herself, the insides scooped out, and if she shattered, there would be nothing left but bones.
Elena lay on the floor in her wedding gown, the silk torn at the shoulder and the lace ripped away from the bodice’s hem. She laughed and laughed and laughed.
“I told you, Dimi Ivanova,” she said between jagged peals of mirth. “This is my place of power. You cannot touch me here.” Her gaze shifted to Sammael, standing in the middle of the floor, then to Niko’s insubstantial form beside her. “Are we done, then? Do you yield, and admit I’ve won?”
The words stuck in Katerina’s throat. She refused to say them, to consign Niko to an eternity in the Dark. But what could she do? How could she save him now?
Her gaze traveled between the corrupt Vila, the inscrutable demon, and the shade of her Shadow, then back again, as her mind churned, desperate for a solution. And then, as her eyes fell on her Shadow’s transparent face once more, revelation dawned.
Niko had not come to her aid as she and Elena fought. But neither had he defended the Vila.
He was a guardian, a black dog. Defending those who he was bound to was bred into his very nature. If he hadn’t fought for Elena, then that had to mean he wasn’t truly hers.
It was a thin thread of hope, true. But it was all she had. And if there was even a chance she could save her Shadow, Katerina would take it, or die trying.
Summoning the last of her strength, she rose to her feet. “No,” she said. “I will not yield.”