Face value, Ichi appeared composed. She had her silky black hair knotted at her neck, not a strand out of place. She walked strong and sure, determined, as reflected in her one good eye.
But she wasn’t breathing. Not that the dead needed to breathe.
“You sure you want to do this?” I whispered.
She gave me a soft nod.
Ronen turned, blocking our view of the next few cells.
“Ready?”
“Yes.”
I wasn’t sure anything could’ve prepared either of us for what we saw when Ronen moved.
Most striking was Ni’s nakedness and her ebony skin.
The uniform they’d caught her in lay in shreds in the corner of her cell. Her once honey-colored eyes had been leached of all color. Two sets of yellowed bone jutted from her forehead, keeping the remaining pieces of her hair from falling into her wrinkled face.
She had long ebony claws, pointed teeth peeking from her lips, and a sunken chest.
Ichi’s body tightened like a bowstring.
“Ni?”
“Like how we’ve changed your sister?” she hissed, her regrown tongue flickingout.
Ronen and I stiffened.
Ni laughed, the unnatural sound scraping across my nerves.
“Didn’t expect this, General? Or didn’t expect to hear from me after you killed Lilith? I told you I was going to keep you guessing.”
“Where’s Ni?” I demanded, since Ichi stood there stunned.
“The soul that inhabited this body?” She tapped a pointed claw against her lip, the motion jerky and unnatural. “I’m afraid if there’s any of her left, she’s lost in the shattered remains of her mind,darling,” she drawled, then laughed. “A fortunate consequence of our first experiment. But I must admit, our second one packs an icy punch. A better following too.”
Following?
We knew they wanted souls, and Ridigar chose to become a demon, but did they convince others too?
By Ronen’s spiking anxiety, I had a feeling they had.
The demon—not Ni—grinned.
“It’s interesting how the promise of power and freedom from punishment and torture can turn a tormented soul. Don’t you think?”
She approached her cell bars, her claws clicking against the metal as she wrapped her hands around them.
“And the temptation would’ve never been possible without the help of our pretty, pretty princess.”
Her arm shot out at an unnatural speed, claw nicking my jaw as Ronen yanked me back and his sword slid free with a sharp shing.
He sliced off her arm without a thought.
The voice controlling Ni snickered, unfazed by the pain.
“I hope you enjoy the front-row seat to Hell’s destruction.”
