I draw in a breath. Steel myself.
“Then name it,” I say. “What is the bargain?”
Those black eyes rake over me again, assessing, appraising, like meat on a butcher’s block.
“Your body,” it says. “Given willingly. You will not fight me.” Suddenly the demon's eyes go wide, no, not the demon… Atilia. She gasps and for a split second something flickers there, but the demon snarls, shakes it away and takes back control. “They always fight in the end.”
My jaw tightens.
Did Aluna fight? I know Pax did. Is Atilia fighting now?
“I can keep a body far longer if it submits,” it continues, nodding as if pleased. “Yours will suit me well, so long as it holds together.”
A chill coils in my gut. “Holds together?”
It grins, needle teeth grinding together.
“All flesh rots eventually. Your skin will slough away like fruit left too long in the sun. Flies will come soon enough. They will lay their eggs in whatever warmth remains. But I promise you this…” its smile widens, “…that will not be for a very long time.”
It leans closer.
“Do you accept this bargain, Neve Devlin?”
I look down at Luceran.
His eyes plead with me. His voice is gone. I watch him fading before me, every breath a battle, every heartbeat a theft.
“You will leave Luceran alone,” I say quietly.
I lift my gaze back to the demon. “You take my body and then we leave Castle Frostwyn.”
The demon’s brow creases.
“That is the bargain. Do you agree?”
It lifts its chin slowly, dragging a finger along Atilia’s throat.
“I accept.”
It happens so quickly.
The room darkens.
Not night, something deeper. Shadows pour outward, swallowing the walls, blotting out the moon above the glass dome until even its pale glow is extinguished. The fire in the hearth gutters, sputters, then collapses into dull, lifeless embers.
I turn toward Luceran, words I need him to hear on the edge of my tongue, but before I can speak, the demon whispers.
“Neve.”
The sound of my name coils through the air like a caress.
“Come to me, Neve.”
I turn and the shadows surge.
Smoke rushes into my mouth, down my throat, filling my lungs, my chest, my veins. I choke, stumble, my eyes wide as my muscles lock and seize. Gods…I can feel it. Everywhere. Inside me. Around me. My body stops listening. I try to scream, to run, but I cannot move.
I am no longer in control.
