Destined to the Reaper (The Shadow Realms #2)

Chapter 3

Pharos

A wave of disgust swelled through me as I stared at Alva, one of Cornelius’s three apprentices. Standing next to the cells containing the live creatures of the necromancer’s menagerie, she was hanging on to the bars, pushing out her ass, and shaking it in a lurid fashion. The menagerie varied from risen—zombie-like beings—to patchworked abominations, and captured mythical creatures held in metal cages reinforced by magic. The less vicious ones lined up the left wall of the room, while the most disturbing were held in an even broader dungeon accessible through a back door hidden by one of the front cells.

Further to the right, past the last cage, a series of deactivated constructs just stood or sat openly on the floor. In sharp contrast, the opposite side of the room was filled with artifacts, body parts, and various other powerful magical items displayed as trophies. Lethal traps and wards protected them from wandering hands.

Why Cornelius chose this setting for one of his recurring sexual escapades always boggled my mind.

Of the three apprentices, Alva was the one most aligned with the necromancer’s twisted kinks. The only thing that topped her ruthlessness and cruelty was her thirst for power. By human standards, Alva qualified as a beautiful woman. With her long and curly, fiery red hair, brown eyes, and heart-shaped face, she drew many appreciative glances. I found her too skinny and overly pale. But it was her foul personality that made her even less attractive to me.

At twenty-eight, Piers, the second apprentice, was a solid eight years younger than Alva, although you would never guess she was well into her thirties. At 6’1, he towered over her by only a few inches. Just like Jasper, he was slender with an androgynous look to him. As with all his apprentices, Cornelius only chose attractive people as they were expected to warm his bed as part of their duties. Brown haired, blue eyed, and olive-skinned, he kept his hair trimmed short with sideburns. His ambition easily rivaled Alva’s. Sadly for him, his respectable arcane powers held him back. Where Alva looked forward to engaging in the type of debauchery Cornelius enjoyed, he just went along with a certain level of indifference. It was but another task on his roster.

While Alva enjoyed sex with anything and anyone—person, monster, and even the undead—Piers technically was only drawn to women, although I increasingly suspected him of being asexual. That didn’t stop him from bending over for Cornelius whenever he so demanded.

Removing his belt, Piers whipped it with non-negligible force against Alva’s wiggling ass. While he had done so with a certain hint of malice, the wretched female only moaned, pushing her ass out further requesting more. Cornelius chuckled with approval before casting a sideways glance at Meri, his third and last apprentice. She responded with a stiff smile before starting to strip out of her clothes.

I couldn’t decide if I felt more pity or disgust for her. She was the most powerful of the three but also the most spineless. She’d developed an unhealthy obsession for Cornelius. The foolish girl had convinced herself that she was head over heels in love with him. If not for her strong magic, she never would have secured a position with him as her mentor. Meri wasn’t ugly, just not his type. Short, average-looking, and on the plump side, she didn’t check any of the boxes that appealed to him, aside from her undivided loyalty and non-negligible talent that he could exploit.

She hated all those group sex activities he imposed on them at least once a week. Stupidly, she complied to please him and in the hopes he would eventually develop some affection for her and maybe even grant her the ‘privilege’ often bestowed upon Alva to share his bed on certain nights. You’d think after three years, she would have finally gotten a clue that it would never happen. And yet she kept hoping.

I couldn’t fathom how anyone would think debasing themselves like that could get someone to love and respect you. The worst part of it all was that Cornelius enjoyed her pain and humiliation. He cruelly kept dangling the promise of a potential closer bond between them only to get her to consent to increasingly degrading scenarios. He’d never even fucked her once. The only thing he’d ever given her of himself was the honor of swallowing his cock. Otherwise, he would have Piers have his way with her, especially anal, as he knew she hated it with a passion.

But today would be even worse for her.

As soon as she was done stripping, Cornelius gestured with his head at the constructs. Despite her best efforts, Meri failed to hide her crestfallen expression. It wasn’t the first time he had forced her to pleasure some otherworldly being. But those constructs were the worst for her. They were mindless, soulless creations built out of miscellaneous body parts stemming from random living creatures—human or otherwise—and in some cases including mechanical parts. They felt nothing and only came to life under a magical spell.

Heedless of Alva’s moans as Piers continued to whip her, Meri made her way to one of the biggest construct, who began to stir in response to Cornelius’s compulsion. The women would take turns getting plowed by that abomination. While Alva would enjoy it, Meri would fight back tears through it. What killed me about it was that she could say no and knew it too. But she dreaded even more the thought of giving him any reason to cull her out altogether from their little entertainment. Even though he never touched her the way she dreamt of, watching him rutting over Alva or even Piers gave her the illusion she was part of it all.

“I don’t need to witness this bullshit,” I mentally hissed at him.

Cornelius chuckled, his malice seeping into our psychic connection. He knew how much his parties disgusted me. He made them drag on even long after his endless appetites were sated. At first, I thought it was to further torture his apprentices and me. It took me too long to realize he was also charging one of the many talismans he wore—this specific one made of the blood, bones, and hair of a succubus. It greedily fed on sexual energy, serving as a magic amplifier that came in handy when he fought or attempted to subdue elder demons.

“You’re such a prude, Pharos. After a few centuries of abstinence, I would have expected you to be grateful for an opportunity to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh through me,” he telepathically spoke back to me in a mocking tone.

“Nothing you can ever do will ever provide me any form of pleasure, except my freedom,” I snapped.

“You wound me!” he retorted tauntingly. “After all this time, you and I should be more than friends, brothers even. I can never let you go. Relax, and learn to enjoy what delights life has to offer.”

“What you call delights are just foul and abhorrent debaucheries. You’re welcome to indulge in them without me.”

He chuckled some more. We already had that conversation a million times before. Although pointless, rehashing my grievances provided some distraction from the events taking place around us until he tired of me and finally allowed me to fade into the background. Obviously, I wasn’t entirely gone. But it compared to entering some form of hibernation sheltering me from seeing, hearing, or feeling anything, and especially not the sliminess of his soul caging me.

Sadly, he rarely released me until things were in full swing, forcing me to sit through far too much of his twisted games.

The sound of his mental voice poking more fun at me faded in the background when a sudden energy tugged at me. I stiffened, startled by what I initially thought to be some kind of psychic attack against Cornelius. Despite being hosted by him, I wasn’t tied to his nervous system and therefore couldn’t share whatever physical pain he might endure. Granted, some of it could seep through our psychic link, and he even occasionally tried to unload some of it onto me to make his suffering more manageable on the rare occasions an opponent succeeded in getting a hit on him. But I possessed my own powers to block him and even to resist some of his attempts at coercing me into doing certain things.

It then dawned on me that it wasn’t an attack but a summons. What I initially assumed to be a tug was in fact the steady pull of a portal. It even began swirling before my mind’s eye.

What in the nine hells is this? Who could possibly call upon me this way?

I immediately clamped down on my emotions so that Cornelius wouldn’t catch on. With the portal’s pull growing in intensity, he would soon detect it. I could not allow it. Only someone who knew my sacred name could perform this summons. Was my freedom finally within reach?

In my eagerness to find out, I almost jumped through the portal only to rein myself in at the last minute. This could be a trap leading me into an even more dreadful fate than the one I currently endured. And even assuming no enemy awaited on the other side, Cornelius would feel me leaving if I wasn’t discreet, and he would reel me back in before reinforcing my cage to prevent any chance of future escape.

I needed to handle this smartly.

With much reluctance I sent out a discreet magic tap through the portal telling the summoner to pause it until the time was right. I could only hope they would understand the message and not take it as a rejection. In half a millennium of captivity, this was the first doorway to open for me. I couldn’t bear the thought of another five hundred years of this if the summoner gave up and permanently closed the portal.

As a million thoughts swirled through my mind, I suddenly felt Cornelius probing my consciousness. I clamped down on my emotions and refocused on him. As I had missed whatever nonsense he’d been spewing, my lack of snarky response had raised his suspicions.

I shifted my attention to Meri, allowing the disgust I felt to fill me, drowning out my emotions about the portal. The pathetic female was now on all fours, teeth clenched while the massive construct pounded into her from behind. He had the bull legs, tail, and knotted cock of the lesser demon Cornelius had kept after killing him. His torso belonged to a human male who had failed to pay his debt on time. The head had been chopped off a troll, although the eyes belonged to a wolf shifter. And the arms came from a demonic ape.

Next to them, Alva was on her knees, bobbing in front of Piers’s groin, her ass, legs, and lower back red with angry welts where he’d belted her.

“You go enjoy your pets. I am done with this farce. You’re welcome to try and force me to stay, but I am not,” I said with all the contempt I could muster.

Visibly satisfied that my strange tuning out had been prompted by how sickening these little parties were to me, the suspicious edges of his prodding faded, and Cornelius snorted. The controlling and cruel parts of him wanted to coerce me into staying to assert his dominance. To my relief, he decided to let go this time.

Watching Piers fucking Alva’s face was getting him hard. Even though she was the one stirring his fire, he would be plowing Piers first, just to spite him.

As he began unbuckling his belt, I faded into the background.

Despite my burning urge to rush to the portal, I bided my time, fading deeper and deeper until my host would barely even be able to notice my presence. Once he fully got into the action, he would no longer pay me any mind. Considering the amount of alcohol and drugs they had brought into the room, this would last at least three or four hours. Afterwards, they would rehydrate and pass out in bed. Technically, I would have until the wee hours of the morning before I had to return.

I spent the next eternity hoping and praying that the summoner wouldn’t leave out of impatience. By the time I felt confident enough to send another tap through the portal, a little over forty minutes had elapsed since it first opened. The swiftness with which they fully reopened it had my spirit soaring. Whoever it was wanted to see me as eagerly as I wanted to get out.

Nevertheless, reining myself in, I carefully followed through the swirling tunnel that appeared before my mind’s eye. Moving too swiftly, even in this deeply faded state, would tug at the tether still binding me to Cornelius.

A cool evening breeze, fresh air, and the discreet singing of running water in the distance struck me before the world fully formed around me. My shock at finding myself in the middle of the Fey Woods paled in comparison at discovering the identity of the summoner.

“By the Gods! It worked!” the woman exclaimed.

“Kali?!” I breathed out, flabbergasted.

A shiver coursed through me upon hearing my own voice, even though it had a disembodied edge to it. I had not heard myself like that in five centuries.

She recoiled, her eyes widening as surprise took over her excitement, before giving way to wariness.

“How do you know my…?”

Her voice trailed off, and she blinked as if struck by a sudden understanding. I nevertheless answered her not-fully-formed question.

“I bore witness to your encounters with Cornelius,” I replied, my voice harsh. “You doubted your ability to succeed, and yet you summoned me. What is this? How did you learn this ancient ritual?”

She licked her lips nervously and visibly fought the urge to squirm.

“The Weaver taught me,” she answered quickly. “I asked her for help defeating Cornelius to free my brother. She said I had to free you first before he could be vulnerable enough for me to kill him.”

It was my turn to recoil. A million thoughts swirled in my head, although shock, hope, and confusion warred within me in equal measure. Why would the Weaver intercede now? Why send Kali of all people?

Sure, she was a decently powerful mage. However, I highly doubted she was fierce enough to see this through, especially considering the risks and sacrifices it entailed.

“You foolish girl! You do not have the power to kill Cornelius,” I snarled.

“Without your powers, he—”

“Even without me to leech from, he will remain more powerful than you can ever hope to be,” I interrupted. “You are too weak to challenge him.”

A mulish expression laced with anger settled on her face. “The Weaver thinks I can do it! I think I can do it! There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to free my brother!”

“The only thing you will do is die!” I snapped.

“You don’t know that,” she said, crossing her arms on her chest and lifting her chin defiantly. “Whatever happens to me, what do you care? For me to even attempt to defeat him—or for him to kill me—you need to be freed first. So what do you have to lose?”

“Everything!”

She blinked, confused by my response. I advanced to the edge of the circle containing me. It was odd having a body again, even though this one was nothing more than a shadowy representation of my soul. To her, I would look like a white Wraith.

“Did the Weaver tell you what the task entails to free me?” I asked in a stern voice.

“She said I need to host you back into your body,” Kali replied, sounding a little uncertain.

“Do you even know where my body is?”

She frowned at the taunting edge in my tone. I flinched inwardly upon recognizing it as one Cornelius often used against people he was preparing to berate. It shamed me that his foul influence should so taint my own behavior. In a way, it had to be expected after spending five hundred years as his prisoner.

Kali shook her head, her stubborn—borderline arrogant—stance loosening into one of repressed wariness.

“It is located in one of the sacrificial chambers at the bottom of Hemdell Crypt,” I said in an icy tone.

Right on cue, she shuddered. Her arms crossed over her chest slid down a few inches to hug her waist instead. It had been a subconscious gesture, but highly revealing, nonetheless. The anger such a reaction stirred within me battled with the disappointment I felt and something else I couldn’t quite put into words.

“See? If that makes you shudder—as it should—you are nowhere near ready for such a mission. If you fail, the chances that Cornelius will notice are extremely high. And once he does, he will shackle me in such a way that there will never be any hope of me ever escaping.”

“It’s not like you have any now,” she snapped, visibly stung by my chastising tone.

Her comment struck a nerve. A low hiss emanated from me as I moved even closer to the very edge of the circle in a threatening fashion.

“Tread carefully, little girl,” I growled.

She pinched her lips and lowered her eyes. As aggravated as I felt by her insolent remark, I couldn’t help but find her boldness attractive. There was strength behind her delicate appearance. Clearly, she had been bullied in the past and learned to stand her ground. More importantly, she’d grown wise enough to know when to strategically retreat.

“Look, I don’t have a death wish. I need your collaboration to make Cornelius mortal again so that I can free my brother,” Kali said in a reasonable tone with a slightly pleading edge. “You need someone like me to free you from the prison he trapped you in. We can help each other. I would be a fool not to be disturbed at the thought of entering the belly of Hemdell’s Crypt. You would have had better grounds to be concerned if I had been dismissive of the danger it entails. But that does not deter me. I can do it.”

“And how do you expect to pull that off?” I couldn’t help but ask tauntingly.

“By recreating this circle near your body inside the crypt, no? If I go during the day, most of the foul creatures will be dormant,” she said in a hopeful tone.

“That will not work,” I said with a dismissive gesture of my hand. “While going during the day is a wise approach, creating the circle near my body will not suffice. I need you to become a conduit for me.”

By the way she stiffened, I immediately suspected the Weaver had hinted as to what the cost would be for her to help me. Kali was visibly not keen on it. Had she come here to waste my time?

“And how do I do that?” she asked, her voice tense.

“By giving me your soul,” I replied, matter-of-factly.

“That’s absolutely out of the question,” Kali replied with a finality that made it clear there would be no further debate on the matter.

A wave of anger surged through me. While I understood her reluctance to make such a sacrifice, her flat-out refusal would have felt like less of a slap in the face had it been a surprise for her. But she came here already knowing what I would say. What in the nine hells kind of game was she playing? Why would she give me hope only to crush it right away?

“Then go away and stop wasting my time!” I hissed.

I angrily turned my back on her ready to let my consciousness seek the path back to Cornelius. But that dreadful prospect chilled me. As furious as I felt about Kali leading me on, for the first time in centuries, I was enjoying a semblance of freedom. It would be a couple more hours before I truly needed to go back. Why waste such an opportunity when it likely wouldn’t return for decades if not centuries?

“Wait!” Kali shouted, panicked.

I peered at her over my shoulder. Despite my rigid stance, deep down, my misplaced pride was grateful for her providing me with a way to save face as I lingered here.

“Please, let’s discuss this rationally,” she said in a reasonable tone rife with tension. “If you only need to return to your body, why do you require my soul?”

I slowly turned back to face her and approached the edge of the circle again. She looked quite small before my shadowy form. Her head barely reached the middle of my chest. Technically, I could scale myself down, but it would require energy I did not want to waste. Oddly, seeing her looking so delicate in comparison stirred within me a pleasant protectiveness. Considering I needed her to perform a dangerous part of this mission to free me, that she should prompt such a reaction from me should be terrifying instead of agreeable.

“What is the point?” I asked in a slightly haughty tone. “It is clear you will not consent. What would discussing the matter accomplish?”

“You are asking for an insane price to help you,” she retorted stiffly. “I think it’s only fair and highly reasonable for me to understand why in the world you would ask that, and how the fuck it’s relevant to the task needed.”

I pursed my lips as I weighed her words. Of course, it was indeed a reasonable request. Only a bumbling idiot would consent to such a thing without challenging it. I didn’t know why I was acting in this obnoxious fashion so contrary to my normally charming disposition. I wanted to believe it was merely to drag things out longer without being too obvious about my reluctance to reintegrate my cage.

“You giving me your soul creates one of the most powerful bonds possible between two beings,” I explained at last in a far gentler tone. “That bond will supersede the one currently leashing me to Cornelius. It will allow me to easily transfer from his vessel through you and into my own body. Without it, the moment I attempt to reintegrate my body, the tether will pull me back to him.”

Kali frowned. She lowered her gaze to the ground as she reflected intensely on my words before glancing back up at me. “Assuming I agree and give you my soul, would that be a temporary thing? Would you pledge to fully return it to me, no tricks and no strings attached?”

As soon as I began shaking my head, anger and an air of betrayal settled on her stunning features.

“No, Kali, I would not return it to you,” I replied in a calm voice. “Before you get angry, know that it is not out of greed but merely because it is impossible. Once given, a soul cannot be taken back or returned.”

“That’s a lie!” she snapped. “Demons do it all the time. You sign a contract in blood, and should you fulfill the conditions set therein within the agreed upon deadline, then it will be returned to you.”

I smiled. “You are correct as far as how those contracts work. However, their soul is not given yet , which is the operative word. It is the equivalent of putting a lien on it. Should you fail to fulfill your commitment, then you forfeit your soul’s ownership, which then becomes the permanent property of the demon to do with as they please. In our specific situation, a lien would not work. I do not seek to take possession of your soul. I simply must to create the necessary bond.”

Her shoulders slouched, and my chest constricted at the air of defeat marring her face. Once again, a wave of protectiveness surged within me.

From the first time I had laid eyes on her, she had stirred a potent possessiveness and hunger in me that never abated over the years, only growing stronger. In many ways, stating that I didn’t seek to take possession of her soul was in fact a lie. I craved it with a fierceness that defied logic. Even now, its shimmering colors mesmerized me. Now that I was free of the limitations of Cornelius’s human vessel, I could finally hear the haunting melody of her soul. It was like the blissful sigh of the wind in response to the gentle caress of the rays of the sun at its zenith. It had a sensuous and yet crystalline quality to it that I could listen to forever.

“I’m sorry,” Kali said at last, putting an end to my wandering thoughts. “I cannot do that. That’s too steep a price. I’m not fighting this hard to free my brother only to become a slave myself.”

“You would not be a slave,” I objected, feeling a little stung that she would think me capable of such a thing.

Granted, it was a fair assumption, especially under the circumstances. But I still felt offended by it.

“Says you,” she countered with a challenge in her voice. “I don’t know you. The Gods only can say how all those centuries trapped in the twisted fuck that is Cornelius has affected you. The bottom line is that my soul would no longer be mine for as long as I live, and probably even beyond. It will give you an insane power over me, and I’ll be helpless to do anything about it. Tell me I’m wrong.”

I bowed my head in concession. “You are correct in each of your statements. Unfortunately, I have nothing else to offer you of my pure intentions other than my word and a pledge.”

She shook her head, but I doubted it was conscious. Her brow still creased, she continued to think furiously.

“This is not a bridge I’m willing to cross. But the Weaver said there might be another way that does not involve me giving you my soul. She talked about becoming your host,” Kali said in a hopeful voice.

My face instantly closed off. Beyond the fact that I genuinely wanted her soul with an almost rabid hunger, I really didn’t like the other option because of all the ways it could go wrong.

“There may be another way,” I admitted with much reluctance. “But it is a lot riskier. And truth be told, I highly doubt you would consent to that one either.”

Her brow shot up with undisguised curiosity with a sliver of wariness. “Riskier, how? And why would I have an issue with it?”

“It would require for me to give you a part of my soul instead. Once that happens, the part of me that remains within Cornelius will be weaker. He might notice my thinner presence. But more importantly, should he require the use of my greater powers, they will clearly lack the potency they should normally have. If he suspects what is happening, not only will he shut it down, but he will be able to trace the link back to you as he reclaims the part of me you will be carrying. And then, he will come after you with a vengeance.”

She once again shuddered, realizing that there would be no easy conclusion to this plan.

“But what if I go first to the crypt and you give that part of you to me right before we transfer you to your body? That way, even if Cornelius notices, he will never have enough time to react and shackle you again,” Kali suggested tentatively.

Her shoulders slouched again when I shook my head. “That would not work. Or rather, it would only work if you already hosted at least a quarter of my soul, but ideally a third. But hosting in that fashion requires multiple sessions with only a small fraction transferred each time to avoid detection because I am tethered. What you suggest is what we would have done had you given me your soul. Then, you would have gone straight to my body and the transfer would have been almost instantaneous.”

“Damn,” Kali muttered under her breath. “How many sessions would it require for me to host enough of you for this?”

“At least three sessions, but more than likely five,” I said in a slightly taunting voice.

A part of me was enjoying this, knowing how she would lose her mind once I went into details as to what it entailed. The other part was steadily hoping she would consent to it, not only for a chance to regain my freedom, but also to fulfill one of the many desires she awakened in me from the first time we crossed paths.

She flipped her long black hair over her shoulder even as she narrowed her eyes at me. “Okay. So we do those three to five sessions for me to become your host. But what happens after I transfer you into your body? Will I be totally free of you?”

“Yes,” I said truthfully, although feeling a little rejected by her eagerness not to have any lingering ties with me.

“You will have no power whatsoever over me when this is over?” she insisted.

“None,” I replied in the same factual tone.

“And while I’m hosting you?”

I rolled my eyes, starting to feel a little annoyed. My reaction was unfair as thorough inquiries were of the utmost importance before entering into such an agreement. But the irrational part of me just wanted her to trust me and believe that I would protect her, even from myself.

“With this approach, I will have no power or control over you before, during, or after the task is complete. While you host me, I will not have any way—or desire for that matter—to cause you any harm or affect your ability to control your own body, mind, or actions. This, I pledge.”

This time, her shoulder slump didn’t express discouragement but relief as her face lit up with excitement.

“Perfect. This I can do. So how do we go about it?”

I stared at her, a myriad of thoughts flying through my mind as I pondered how to drop the news on her. My initial intent of easing her into it was squashed by my mouth running away with a will of its own.

“Strip, step inside the circle, and lay down on your back,” I deadpanned.

“WHAT?!” Kali shouted, taking an involuntary step back.

“You heard me,” I said in a cold voice.

“But… but why?” Kali asked with obvious denial.

“You know why. The transfer is performed physically through mating.”

“But you’re not physical!” she exclaimed, waving at me in an obvious fashion.

“Inside this circle, I am partially tangible. Through mating, I will transfer to you part of my ethereal essence, a bit more with each session until the bond is strong enough.”

“I am absolutely not okay with that,” Kali said in a similar definitive tone as the one she used when she refused to give me her soul.

“Then we are done here,” I said in a harsh tone.

She stared at me in disbelief. “You can’t be serious! Surely there’s another way?”

“There is none. You can either give me your soul or lie with me to receive my essence. The decision is yours. But choose quickly and wisely.”

“But you could kill me!” Kali exclaimed as if it was self-evident. “This circle is my only protection.”

That took me aback. Although that well-founded fear should have been obvious, my mind had instead instantly assumed it was revulsion at the thought of lying with me that triggered such a negative response from her. As justified as that reaction would be, it still soothed me to know that was not the main reason for that resounding rejection.

I tilted my head to the side and raised an amused eyebrow.

“Technically, you’re not wrong. By entering the circle, you do expose yourself to my potential wrath or madness. But how would that benefit me? I’m trapped in a prison that I cannot escape on my own. You’re the first hope I’ve encountered in the past five hundred years. Why the fuck would I jeopardize my one opportunity?”

“You’re asking a hell of a lot,” Kali said, sounding a little distraught.

“I am not asking from you anymore than I am asking of myself,” I countered. “What you fail to realize is that I am taking as many, if not even more risks than you are. Do not forget that giving you a part of me is a great threat to my welfare. A single mistake on your part could end me. We’re both taking risks. The question is how much are you willing to take?”

Kali heaved a sigh and rubbed her temples, looking overwhelmed.

“I need time to think. This is not what I expected.”

“There is no time,” I countered. “If you cannot commit to this course of action now, you will have to wait another week before we can initiate the process should you decide to go through with it.”

Kali stiffened and gave me a confused look. “Why one week? Why not tomorrow or the day after?”

“Because establishing the first bond takes longer. Tonight is the perfect opportunity as Cornelius will be occupied for at least the next couple of hours without expecting or seeking my presence. After tonight, I will only be able to come to you when he sleeps. Initiating the first bond at that time is too risky. There is a non-negligible chance that he will feel it. The only next safe time will be in a week when he performs another one of his little orgies that carry on through half the night.”

She stared at me in silence for a long time. Judging by the shimmering colors of her soul, like a multi-colored halo around her head, too many conflicting thoughts and emotions were raging through her. To my shock, she simply turned her back on me and walked away. A sharp pain slashed through me as I stood there, numb, watching her leaving. Shock, betrayal, and a deep sense of defeat crashed over me.

I turned away to look at the clear water of the river a short distance away gleaming under the soft glow of the moonlight. None of this made sense. The Weaver wouldn’t have sent Kali to me if she didn’t genuinely believe she could see this through. Fate wouldn’t have chosen for the one female to have stirred me in generations to be the first to contact me after years of despair only for this to go nowhere.

She just needs more time to come to terms with this.

I desperately clung to that thought. A part of me wanted to call out to her and beg her to come back. But this was too dire a mission to be embarked on half-heartedly. She needed to be fully committed. I had waited five hundred years, what was another week?

What if she doesn’t summon me ever again?

The sound of a soft voice in the distance startled me out of my grim thoughts. I jerked my head around to see Kali casting a cone of silence spell above one of the wards she set about ten meters away from the fairy ring she chose to build the summoning circle in. A wispy light flew off from the ward to the next one, then the third, and onward through the eight wards that formed a perfect circular perimeter around us.

Stunned, I watched her quietly walk back towards me, the oddest mix of determination and wariness fighting for dominance on her beautiful face. She stopped in front of the circle and locked eyes with me.

“Pledge that you will not do me any harm, physically, mentally, or otherwise if I enter the circle,” she said in a firm tone.

“I pledge it,” I replied, trying to clamp down on the hope returning vigorously.

“Swear that from this moment forward, once I enter the circle, while I’m inside it, and even after I leave it, your interactions with me will be devoid of any malicious intent towards me and remain constrained to the sole purpose of transferring a part of your soul to me so that we can free you from Cornelius.”

I opened my mouth to respond but then hesitated. Taking that oath was not an issue. But as much as I respected her reasonable need to protect herself against potential foul play, it bothered me to no end that she didn’t trust me. My reaction was irrational, yet I needed her to know beyond any doubt that whatever went down between us, she would always be safe with me.