Page 164 of Through Fire And Ruin

Lora sighed, then caught herself and straightened. “Yes, fae.” She could see the concern in her mother’s eyes mixing with anger. Her father seemed more confused than anything.

“And they’re more important than your family?” her brother commented.

Karwyn tapped the bar once, drawing her attention to him. He was getting more and more impatient.

Lora stared at her brother’s hopeful face. He wouldn’t stop asking questions, not unless she broke his hope and shattered her promise with it. “I’ve found…family here. A cousin. I need to stay and find out more about my fae history.” She saw the second her brother’s face fell. In this moment, she hated herself for speaking the words that broke her brother. But it was better he was mad at her than trying and failing to save her. It was a necessary evil. Let them think the worst of her. She just had to find a way to survive and make it up to them later.

“How did you find this cousin? Did you see your fae…father? You don’t even know what he looks like,” her mother said, voice carrying an edge of desperation. Her brother disappeared out of view.

Lora forced her words to come out calmly. “No, he’s not in Turosian. But my cousin is. I know this is all a lot to take in, but I need to—”

Her mother moved forward, her face covering the whole screen. “Loraine, you can’t even be sure you’re related! Don’t do this. You don’t belong there. Come back.Please.”

“I agree. Lora, honey, this isn’t right. Come home, think on this. You can always go back another time,” her dad added. Her mother cut him an annoyed glance.

“I’m sorry. I know it’s hard to accept, but I need to stay for now. I’ll explain—” Her words died as the call ended abruptly. Lora quickly tapped on the call button again, but nothing happened. She tried again, putting more pressure on the device. A new sense of panic rode up her body, washing over her like shards of ice. She didn’t even get to say goodbye.

Her eyes drifted to the WiFi cube in her pocket. The usually faint green light now flashed red. She’d run out of data. This couldn’t be it. Their conversation cut short, ending on the disappointed gaze of her mum.

Karwyn cleared his throat. “Let us get to business.”

The tears she had held back ran down her cheeks as she pressed her phone to her chest and closed her eyes. “I need another WiFi cube. I wasn’t done talking,” Lora said, trying to stop the tears from falling.

“That was not part of the deal and I am in no mood to prolong this.”

Opening her eyes, Lora took in the only relative she would see for however long she’d be trapped here. She swiped at her tears, brushing over her faintly bruised skin, before striding forward and taking the roll of paper from him.

As she unrolled the document, she noticed right away it was quite detailed. He promised all the things they’d discussed, but in addition to her agreeing to train and give up her powers, she couldn’t kill Karwyn without dying herself. Attacking wasn’t out of the question because Karwyn needed her to fight him for the ritual to work. She couldn’t talk about their deal to anyone if she wished to live until the ritual would ultimately end her.

The small relief Lora found was the fact that she’d die either way. It sounded bleak even in her own mind, but it gave her solace knowing she could break the contract last minute and take Karwyn down with her. Preferably, she’d find a loophole before it came to that. Karwyn himself had said there was always an exception. Her family would want her to fight for it. Eyden too. She hoped. Maybe.

“Fine, let’s get it over with,” Lora said, pulling on her courage.

Karwyn pulled out a fountain pen. He pricked his skin, took the contract from her, and signed his name in neat letters.

Lora took the contract back and watched as Karwyn wiped the blood off the pen with a clean handkerchief. The white stained with red felt like a metaphor for her life. It would be stained with the promise of death.

She reached for the pen, but Karwyn pulled back. His hand went to his other pocket and when he revealed the vial of blood Lora was all too familiar with, her heart stopped. “You will sign with this,” Karwyn said, dunking the pen in dark red.

The metallic smell of blood filled her senses. “That wasn’t part of the deal,” Lora said, barely breathing.

“I never specified whose blood we would use. I am not dumb, little cousin. I know you would be tempted to go against the contract once it is only your life on the line. But your mother, on the other hand…”

“Bastard.” This changed everything. She couldn’t risk her mum’s life.

“I have been called worse. Never forget you are nothing more than a pawn to me. You are only useful for so long.” His turquoise eyes held the promise of doom.

Lora grasped the paper in both hands, tearing the edge of it. “I’ll sign with my own blood. Nothing else.”

“Rip it if you like. I will bring you another one in a few days when your father is sicker. Or maybe dead, you never know. And even if the virus somehow does not get them, my people will. I know where they live now.” The shocked look on her face gave him the kind of joy only a disturbed person could find. “You think I did not have someone follow Marcel? Right to the Whitner door. One message and they will get a surprise no cure can save them from. Tick tock, cousin.” He held the pen out to her, through the bar. When she didn’t react, he began to slowly back away.

Lora ripped the pen from his grasp before he was out of reach. A drop of blood fell to the ground. She was about to sign a deal with the devil. There was no way out of it. With this signature, she wasn’t just sealing her own fate, but also her mum’s. Her mother would either die or lose her daughter. She knew her mum would choose a different path, but Lora didn’t want to live in a world where she was responsible for her mother’s death.

With trembling hands, she signed her name on the paper with her mother’s blood. As soon as the pen lifted from the sheet, both signatures glowed brightly, the magic activating and dooming her forever.

“Smart choice, little cousin. I will keep that for you.” Karwyn snatched the phone and the useless WiFi cube from her limp hand. “Now, as long as you behave, you will make the rest of your life quite easy. If you misbehave, you will be right back here. And if you break our contract”—he clicked his tongue—“well, we both know how that would end.”

Karwyn didn’t wait for a response. Lora was speechless anyway. His words sounded far away to her, nothing more than a rushing in her ears as she found herself on the shiny ground. Her hands touched the icy floor as despair flowed through her frozen veins. She could see her faint reflection on the surface. Her eyes were dull, fearful, hopeless. The weight of the spell settled over her, pulling her underwater and drowning the last shred of hope she’d carried until now.

Through the haze of her mind, one last question emerged. Before Karwyn could disappear through the door, she called out, “How did you make the cure?”

A sinister grin turned his stare diabolic. “Naïve little cousin, you do not let a virus loose without procuring a cure first.”