“Or,” Reggie started, and we all looked at him, “and this is a hypothesis at best, but possession, even through the realms, is very, very limited. Cursed creatures of the Otherworld can sometimes compel others but not fully possess them. Possession requires an emptiness for them to fill and wear like a shell. They would need an uninhabited body.”
“Like a zombie?” Cameron asked, folding his arms and leaning on the edge of the desk.
“Necromancy is not possession,” Samkiel added.
“He was able to get in because of my soul,” I said. “Or lack thereof.”
Reggie nodded. “You’d be the perfect host for another to inhabit.”
“I don’t want to be inhabited.” My fists clenched, the thought alone revolting. I felt so … violated.
“You won’t be,” Samkiel said, his voice resonating with the power that lived just under the surface of his skin. He meant it. I’d felt his fear become a living flame when he’d found me in that clearing. I knew exactly what memory plagued him, and he was terrified of me being taken from him again. Only it wouldn’t be monsters dragging me back to Kaden, but an ancient, pissed-off Ig’Morruthen intent on revenge-possessing my body.
Cameron’s brows rose, and he let out a slow breath. “Okay, so Gathrriel wants Dianna’s body to fulfill some ancient vengeance? Who, in all the realms, could be his enemy? Even if the texts lied, all those who reigned with him are dead. Trust me. I know. Imogen made me study with her when she was trying to pass her entrance exam to be an emissary.”
Samkiel rubbed the bridge of his nose, weariness radiating from him. “I am unsure. Maybe being dead this long has warped whatever brain he has left. Perhaps he thinks it is a different time?”
“I don’t care what he thinks,” I said. “He tries to take me again, and I will burn whatever soul Vvive gave him.”
Samkiel chewed the inside of his cheek. “We need to work on a way to keep you awake. In the—”
“I do not think so,” Reggie interjected. “Gathrriel said he couldn’t get to Dianna while she slept until last night. As long as you two remain inseparable, you should be fine. There have been no incidents previously. You both assumed it was because you were with her, but perhaps there is another reason. It is just a theory since my visions have evaded me, especially concerning this matter, but I don’t think sleep is the issue.”
Concern bit at my gut. His visions had been sporadic and completely absent for periods of time since he saved me from Nismera. The Jade City healers had supposedly healed whatever damage Nismera had done when she blasted him, but he was changed, and I feared he was still changing. There simply was not enough known of the fates and their physiology for anyone to understand what was happening to him, much less fix him. I didn’t know what was happening to him, and I hated it. Reggie had to be okay.
“Inseparable from Dianna is not a problem for me,” Samkiel said, his eyes cutting a path to me. “Never has been.”
I smiled, knowing that was more than the truth. Even while on my rage-filled, vengeance warpath, I couldn’t get rid of him, and I refused to ever again.
“Aw,” Cameron said, snapping us back to the others in the room. “Sorry, I feel like I ruined the moment.” He scratched at the back of his ear with a wide, apologetic grin. “So, even if we aren’t sure, it seems like the best plan is for Samkiel not to leave Dianna while she sleeps. Even if it is something else and he can get to her, he bolted when Samkiel showed up. He obviously doesn’t want to face him for some reason, so we should be good.”
“Not even close to good,” Samkiel said with a sigh. He looked at me, his eyes filled with such love it warmed me more than the fire. “I need to do some research and find out more about possessions. It’s unacceptable that he thinks he has a foothold here and a right to my wife. I need to see if anyone left in this realm knows how to take out a spirit.”
Reggie nodded.
“And then what?” Cameron asked.
Samkiel smiled wickedly. “And then I’m going to kill him.”
“You’re going to kill a ghost? Okay.” Cameron shrugged. “I’d expect no less, honestly. So where do we start looking? Who would know how to take this guy out?”
The room fell silent, and I turned back to face the fire. The flames had reduced the remaining logs to embers. Samkiel brushed across our bond, checking on me. I didn’t want him to know just how dark and worried my thoughts were, so I sent something else back instead. I had an idea where we might find answers, given that Nismera had culled these realms to her liking. When we needed information on Onuna, we usually went to those willing to risk it all. Those unafraid of breaking laws and rules usually had answers. There was only one realm left where we might find someone we could even ask.
“It may be risky,”he said.
“We have no other choice,”I replied, my tone a bit snappy.“I refuse to allow him to take me again.”
A wave of possessiveness hit the walls of my mind. Samkiel hated even the thought. He hated that anyone would dare touch me, physical or not.
“Simple,” I said, staring into the fireplace. “We go to the Otherworld.”
Cameron let out a small laugh of disbelief, but no one else said anything.
“Wait,” Cameron said. “You’re serious? All of you?”
“It may be the only choice,” Samkiel said, and I turned toward them again.
“I concur,” Reggie agreed.
