It makes a monstrous, rumbling sound of confirmation. “Does your soul tremble at the sound of my name?” My knees slam onto the ground of their own accord, forcing me to bow before It. “My son and I have spoken about what the future holds; the fate of the likes of you, his soul, and the honeyed illusion of freedom.”
In a blink, the blinds over my mind lift, and the memories come flooding in like they happened only moments ago. Lynx stormed out after I accidentally stabbed him. I stood there for what had to beminutes, too shocked by what had happened to run after him and try to get him to listen.
The Tor’Oth came before I made it to the stairs. It grabbed me before I could scream, and the next thing I knew, I was here, in this apartment.
But if the Devil spoke to Lynx, that means the soul sucker got him as well. He’s probably being tortured too. Panic squeezes my chest, and Its bloodied lips pull into a maniacal grin full of razor-sharp teeth.
“I see what you desire—to parley with a spirit beyond the veil.”
Ella, I think.
“Yes, your sister.”
My eyes round. Can It hear what I’m thinking?
The need to talk to her hits me with full force now that I’ve relived that night a thousand times. Shehasto know I love her, and I’m sorry, and I didn’t mean what I said. I’d do anything to make it right. Ihaveto tell her.
It—if It’s the Devil, then It has the power to take me to see her, right?
“A soul for a soul. That is my price, I told him. He paid with yours.”
I suck in a sharp breath. Lynx sacrificed my soul for his freedom? He condemned me to an eternity of torture? After everything we’ve been through? All the shit he said?
I thought—he said hecaredabout me and never wanted to leave. And yet he met with the Devil and bartered my soul for his when he was the one who killed me.
The betrayal tastes like acid, but it’s not as bitter as the realization that it’s my fault. I was the one who was stupidenough to play with magic. I should’ve remembered the dagger sooner and made the connection so that he could’ve been free, and maybe then the soul sucker wouldn’t have come for me.
Tears gather along my lashes as I remember the hurt on his face when he discovered it was my bloodline who condemned him; that it could be my own family who ended up being the death of his. I can’t fault him for hating me.
I’d hate me too.
I can feel It watching me, but I don’t dare look up in case It sees into me.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
“My mercy bends but does not break. So, I offer you a different price. Commune with the dead, and his soul is mine for eternity, and yours free.” It pauses, making the ground shake as It takes a step closer. “Or remain here for eternity, and he rises until his mortal flesh hits the dirt, when he will return for one hundred years.”
Lynx… He chose to free himself, and now the Devil is giving me a chance to free myself and talk to my sister. The decision used to be so easy, and now…
“You sought an audience when you stared, tortured, at the edge of the abyss? Here I stand. Speak, little spark. If your words entertain the darkness, your soul may be spared. So speak before I extinguish you with a sigh.”
It’s hard to see through the tears. I can finally speak to Ella to tell her everything I never said, and I can stop being tormented by memories I’m being forced to relive.
But I… It should never have been me who lived. Talking to her won’t change the fact that she died and I failed her. Lynx has the chance tofinallylive. Explore the world. Find out what happened to his brother and if he has any family left.
I already know all of mine, and I wish them the worst. There’s nothing left for me up there. I’d waste my second chance andhate my life even more than I did before because Lynx won’t be there, and live with the guilt of knowing I had the chance to free him and chose myself instead.
And I… I love him. He’s suffered down here for long enough. I don’t mind getting tortured for an eternity as long as he gets the chance to be free. I’m not going to sacrifice him for the sake of my own peace of mind.
“Let him go,” I croak, batting the tears away. “You can have me. Just let him be free.”
I swallow a cry when heat detonates through the room. It holds the taste of fury and death. It clings to the back of my throat and spears my mind, cracking it into a thousand splinters as everything shakes.
Its anger is an entity in itself.
Before I can beg for it to stop, It says two words. “Very well.”
Then everything goes dark.
