“I promise you, young one. Believe me. You will have answers.”
“Promises require trust. I no longer have that with you.”
As the portal opened, Mergle squirmed to get loose from his ivy shackles. Part of me screamed to believe him and set him free. That he would prove himself and all my doubts would vanish. The other part salivated for blood. It wanted comeuppance. After all, he trained me to be this way. What a bitter treat for us both to swallow.
Calista
Jessandra flipped the dagger into the air and caught it. Over and over, I watched as it spun handle over blade and landed perfectly in her grip every single time. The constant slap against her palm reminded me of a paddle ball, and it was driving me insane. It polluted the peace I sought when Astaroth droppedme back at his room. I had much to think about, and she was a distraction.
“For the love of all things holy.” I scrubbed my hands down my face then hit them against the bed, pushing myself up on my elbows. “Could you please stop that?”
Her hand didn’t falter when she turned her head my way. “No.”
“Aaaagh.” I dropped onto my back and grabbed the pillow next to me, pulling it over my head and clamping it over my ears. That incessant beat continued. I could still hear the faint sound. That, or the beat had burned in my memory and my brain was torturing me.
I sat up and flung the pillow at her. Like a bow releasing an arrow, her arm shot forward and speared the feather-filled sack. It plopped to the ground in front of her, a couple of feathers floating down to rest around it. She reached down to pluck her knife out, and I threw another one at her, this time striking her in the head.
She waited before going for her weapon. “I will let that slide.”
“What other choice do you have?” I asked as I laid back down, thankful the repetitive noise was over.
“Many.”
My head lulled to the side. Jessandra was lost in thought, her gaze far away, even though she looked right at me. Probably weighing the many ways she would seek retribution. Each one would culminate with her demise, and she knew it by the unsatisfied expression she cast. That insipid knife raised up glinting in the twilight.
“If you toss that knife one more time, it better be to put me out of my misery.”
“You have given up so quickly?”
“I spent the day inside a curated display of death. What’s one more?” I focused on the ceiling, ignoring the tingling that remained long after Astaroth stopped touching me.
“The Calista I knew would fight.” She didn’t hide her disgust with me.
I rolled onto my side and propped my cheek on my palm. “You are a conundrum. One minute, you offer helpful advice. The next, you tell me to be a good little soldier and do what I’m told.”
Jessandra shrugged. “There is never a single road in any journey. One must detour at any given moment to reach their destination.”
“Confucius says,” I mumbled and flopped back to the bed, draping my arm over my eyes.
“I am feeling… charitable. Unload your burdens.”
Where did I begin? Home, here, her, him, carrying around dead goblins? The labyrinth talking to me? The tree? “I wouldn’t know where to begin.”
A thump next to the bed made me roll over. Jessandra moved the chair next to me and kicked her feet up on the nightstand. Mud flaked down onto the surface. Astaroth would love that.
“Releasing the heaviest one usually feels best.”
The heaviest one was the hardest one to find the words to express. Picking at the blanket, I mulled over all that happened at The Hall of the Unnamed. “I want to go home so badly, but I’m scared I’ll never find a way out of here. Not without his help, and that will never happen. The longer I stay, the more I worry about becoming one his many statues.”
“Roth would never allow that to happen,” Jessandra stated, sounding exactly like Astaroth.
“That’s what he said.” I took a deep breath and released it. “He plans to tie me to his magic.”
Jessandra gripped the chair arms and sat straight up, her boots clomping to the stone floor. “Take his offer.”
“If I do that, will I be tied to the realm as well keeping everyone alive? I don’t want them to die, but, if that’s the case, I’ll never go home. I’ll be stuck here forever, my choices stripped from me, just like Astaroth.”
“Do not allow your compassion to confuse you and make your decisions for you.”
