Chapter 8
Eight
A fter taking a drink from the vase, I stood by the window and remained there, staring out across Lord Vaelor’s lands, begging my brain to come up with a feasible escape plan. Nothing came. If I stepped outside, I’d be killed by the spirits. If I stayed, Vaelor would use me as his puppet.
He’d saved my life. I should be grateful, yet disappointment weighed on my shoulders.
I remained here, trapped. Feron raised the gate outside, and I watched.
It locked into place, cutting off any possibility of leaving—any chance of breaking free from these bloodthirsty demons and seeking my brother, who was heaven knows where at this point.
I pressed my forehead to the cool glass as tears burned behind my eyes.
Gods Gerand, I hope you have found some small pocket in which you can survive.
I lingered there, wishing for a better existence. But even before the demons raided our lands and took us captive, life had been difficult, money had grown scarce, and the very people who were supposed to care for us had abandoned Gerand and me.
I shoved down the piercing ache that came at the thought of my mother—of the last day I saw her as she went off to sell her herbs and tonics to others. After my father had abandoned us, she always promised she’d be there for us.
I’d promised Gerand the same thing.
I’d failed. Miserably.
I don’t know how long I stood at that window, thinking about every horrible turn my life had taken since the day she left, but the sun had dipped beneath the horizon when a coldness brushed across my bare shoulders, causing me to shiver. I spun around.
Vaelor lingered on the other side of the room, the mist spooling out from him until it encircled my feet, sending a chill through me. My heart rate accelerated at the sight of him.
“Contemplating another escape attempt? That would be very ill-advised,” he said. Despite the fading light, the fireplace mantel remained visible through his translucent form.
“Ill-advised for whom?”
His eyes narrowed, and he walked across the space until he stopped right in front of me, forcing me to look up.
Damn, he was so tall compared to me, especially with those horns that curved from his head.
“The portion of inheritance magic that keeps demons from entering only holds while I remain in the manor. If I depart for the Final Proving and you stay behind…”
I sucked in a breath. “The spirits could get to me.”
“Yes. And we’ve seen what would happen to you if you were to leave on your own.
” His gaze bored unwavering into mine. There was a brief interval before he spoke again, as if weighing how I’d react.
“So there is only one answer for you. I must possess your body so that they cannot. Because once they are inside you, well, it will be all over for you.”
I glanced down at my bandaged arm. “And why would that bother you?”
“There are advantages to being able to possess a body. Spirits can only interact with this plane for a limited amount of time. Only about thirty seconds and then we lose our connection, and it can take a while to build up that ability again. It makes it difficult to fight, to kill, among other things.”
“You don’t have any issue touching me.” I thought of the stairs, of the surprise on his face when his grip held.
His lips pressed together, but he nodded. “Yes, it is peculiar.”
“Why? Does that happen often?”
“No.”
I lifted an eyebrow at his less than helpful answer.
He sighed. “As far as I’m aware, this is the first case.”
The first case in which a spirit had the capacity to touch someone at will.
But not any person. Me. There had to be some reason.
Could it be tied to the fact that when he possessed my body, it wasn’t violent and painful?
I set the question aside. I wanted to continue our discussion on what was to come.
“Tell me about how the Final Proving works.”
“I’ll be given ten days to find a suitable body, kill it, and bond with it. After that, I will have the option to participate in a tournament for a position within the army.”
It—as if that body wasn’t a living, breathing being.
“What if you took possession of the body you wanted and made them kill themselves?” I suggested.
He shook his head. “I can’t. The magic is exact. I must end the life of the demon with which I wish to bond from outside their body, not from the inside.”
“Which means all the spirits will be looking for someone to possess eventually,” I surmised.
The only way for spirits to interact with the physical world longer than a few moments was to temporarily possess a living body and use it as their weapon to take down the actual body they wish to bond with permanently.
“Yes. You will grant me a… head start.”
Someone he’d use to kill another… or perhaps he’d utilize my body until he found a better one? “If this is true, why not take over Feron? He’s bigger and stronger.”
Vaelor straightened, his muscles tensing. “You think I am evil enough to inflict such an experience on a loyal servant?”
I stepped back from him, my heartbeat picking up at the threat he presented. “But you don’t mind taking me over because I’m your enemy.”
“Don’t flatter yourself, human. You are merely a tool I can use for the next phase of my journey. And why not you? The one who poisoned me? It’s a touch of poetic justice, don’t you think?” He took a step closer, reducing the distance I’d created between us. “I’m your only hope.”
The weight of my predicament settled heavily as I fully realized how delicate my position was.
“So what’s stopping you from finding a better body to possess and killing me when you’re done with me?”
He glared at me as the answer rumbled out of him. “Nothing.”
I inhaled sharply. I shouldn’t have said the next part aloud, but I couldn’t pretend it wasn’t a possibility. Vaelor had to be aware of it too. “You could also drive me insane. You could dive so far into my mind that I lose all sense of myself.”
“I could. However, driving you mad would make it more difficult to control you. It’s easier to take over when you’re pliable and willing.”
I had to bite back a laugh. Pliable and willing had never been part of my nature. I’d known that since childhood, when I bit my mother’s hand for taking too long to style my hair. And yet, what other choice did I have? If I didn’t resist and went with him, then at least I’d survive a bit longer.
“How do you know all this?” I asked.
“Since I was unexpectedly and heartlessly murdered, I’ve been studying up on Kingdom Spiritu Malignos in my library.”
My breath caught. “You have a library? I’d like to see those books.”
“Perhaps I will be generous and allow you to, if you behave.”
My curiosity curbed quickly. “Behave?”
He took another step closer to me until there was almost no space between us. “I have come here tonight because we need to train.”
I moved away from him until my back hit the wall as the implication of what he wanted sank in. “You mean you want to practice possessing me.”
“That is correct.”
I remembered the instant he had entered me outside, and my instinctive recoil, the helplessness of it. It hadn’t been as terrible as with Raxus, but that didn’t make it a welcome experience. I didn’t want Vaelor in my body, and I certainly didn’t trust him with my mind.
“Do I have a choice?” The question was simple, but I wasn’t sure whether I meant the practice or everything that would come after it.
He reached up and grazed my cheek with a single nail. His gaze had softened, and his touch was gentle and cold, like mist on water. “Not if you wish to live.”
At least he hadn’t killed me… yet. And there seemed to be a part of him that was intent on keeping me alive for now.
“Fine.” I raised my chin, grateful for the wall at my back because my legs trembled at what I was agreeing to. “Do what you must.”
“There is one more thing.” He took an additional step so that our bodies brushed as if his nearness was a test of what I’d allow him to do to me. “For this to work, it’ll require utter and total surrender on your part.”
I swallowed, looking up into his face. “I won’t stop you.”
A warning crossed his expression. “I’m going to need more than that.”
“Just do it.”
The pressure of his body against mine eased, and he turned to mist and it streamed into me.
No. I didn’t like this. I disliked how effortlessly he entered my thoughts. He tried to move my lips, and I locked up. It wasn’t painful as with Raxus, but that nearly made things worse. Vaelor moved through me too easily, and there was something deeply unsettling in letting go enough to allow it.
He relinquished his hold on me and formed facing me, a frown on his lips. “You must not fight me. We must be united from the start.”
“I’m sorry,” I gasped as I struggled to breathe. Relief flooded into me at the control back in my limbs. “It’s difficult to adjust.”
“Try again.”
He didn’t wait before fading into me. It was a coldness reaching into my body, into my mind. He sought to move my fingers, to make me blink. But if I surrendered even once, I feared I’d lose everything.
Vaelor faded out of me and back into existence, looking frustrated. “This is unacceptable.”
“Why is it unacceptable if I take a second to adjust? You’ve barely given me any time. When we were outside?—”
“Outside you almost died,” Vaelor snarled. “You were lucky we had a short time to adapt. In a surprise attack, we may not be as fortunate. The surrender must be instant.”
“I’m sorry if I don’t fully trust someone who attempted to end my life barely a day ago.” And would kill me as soon as he no longer needed me.
He released a low growl, and he stalked away, running a palm over his face. He turned to me and held out a hand. “Dance with me.”
A laugh burst out of me. “W-what?”
“If you can’t trust me, then we must build it. An ability to yield to the movements of another can also happen through dance.”
I eyed him. “Where did a demon learn to dance?” I’d never received formal training, but the towns I’d lived in had thrown festivals since I was a child. Dancing was a human endeavor, not a demon one.
“Does it matter? Take my hand.”
Never in my life had I thought I might dance with a demon.
I pushed off from my spot on the wall and came toward him.
He watched me as if I were nothing more than a rabbit he was about to frighten off with the wrong move.
Or maybe that was how I felt. Vulnerable to his power.
Vulnerable to my situation. Vulnerable to a demon who only wanted to use me for his purposes.
With a deep breath, I stopped in front of him without taking his hand. Still, he claimed he needed me. Didn’t that grant me some sway? He’d come to my room to explain and to practice. That was not the behavior of someone who wanted me killed.
I could work with him. For my life. For the chance to live another day, waiting for the right instant to break free and find Gerand. That was still possible and would remain so as long as I wasn’t dead.
I reached out and placed my hand into Vaelor’s. His clawed nails closed over mine like a trap. He pulled me close, his arm extending out and his other hand coming to my back. His body felt real, firm despite the mist swirling at my feet, and my ability to see through him.
“Move with me,” he commanded.
He stepped forward, guiding me backward. I stumbled, and he hissed in irritation. Then he moved more deliberately this time, steering my body where he wanted me.
“Sense the pressure from my hand. It will tell you where to go.”
“I know how to dance,” I said through clenched teeth as we glided about the room.
“Then you know I lead and you must follow.” He dipped me backward and my entire body went rigid, my hand on his shoulder gripping his neck hard, even though it brought our faces inches from each other. I took in his square jaw, his high cheekbones, the cold yet elegant curve of his lips.
He held me there, his wings barely spread, his presence suffocatingly close. “Do not resist me, Denara. I do not intend to hurt you.”
I met his red eyes highlighted by that orange glow, fire seeming to burn straight through me, and I tried to steady my breath. “How can I know that?”
His grip on my body was gentle yet firm, his nails pressing just enough to leave a faint sting along my spine.
“You can know this—despite the uncertainty of the future, our goals align in this moment, and I would do nothing to fracture the fragile trust between us.”
A ribbon of cool mist slid along my calf, and I shuddered. My gaze had somehow settled on his lips, and an unfamiliar sensation stirred low inside me. “And when this moment is over? What shall I do then?”
He frowned and set me on my feet, releasing me.
“Time is short. There is no room for distrust.” He turned and headed for the door. “Come with me.”
“Where are we going?”
“To my library.”