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But there was nothing but silence around us. Just as the foul-smelling man started stalking toward me again, ready to make it quicker now that he had a fight, a body flew at him, tackling him to the ground.
Lokan.
I groaned as I dropped my head into my hands. Of all the soul suckers to show up, it had to be the one bound to protect me.
He grabbed the other man by the throat, lifting him from the ground with barely any exerted effort. The black smoke Jaslene had spoken of ran from his body and into the man's mouth, consuming him like a foggy plague.
The man's veins turned black as his body began to sink in on itself. The best way to describe it was rapid dehydration, because it looked like the smoke was devouring all the fluids from the inside. With a loud cry and a bloodcurdling scream, he was turned to nothing but dust.
The black smoke returned to Lokan and disappeared from sight. Lokan dusted his hands off, pleased with himself as he walked over to me. But his eyes were scolding me before his mouth.
"Aria, what were you thinking? You know your family would be crushed."
You have got to be kidding me.
"Don't act like you're concerned about my family. Ou
r death is on your to-do list the second I transform," I whimpered, cursing the tears this time instead of welcoming them.
"Don't cry, little mortal."
He sighed heavily as he came to sit beside me on the ground, leaving at least two feet between us. "I suppose my secret is out. Don't worry, I have a soft spot for you, so I'll make it swift when the time comes. If you want to join me in my quest, you don't have to die at all. Although, it appears that death is something you desire. Sane people tend to fear death. You're a peculiar little witch."
My sanity was being questioned by a killer. Great.
"I don't want to live anymore," I said in a whisper. "Can you break the rules and kill me?" I looked up at him, and he regarded me intently, studying my face as I added, "I know you want to."
He laughed and twitched his finger at me. "Heartbreak is all that could drive someone to beg for their death. I'm assuming it's that Craymon boy. He seemed like a sweet talker."
His jaw clenched, and his anger took place of his amusement. "That soul mate thing isn't so great when it doesn't work out for you, is it? For all you know, your soul mate has been dead for a hundred years or more. It's very bleak when you look at it from that perspective. It's euphoric when you only see the romanticized version."
I cringed, thinking back to the story of Malachi's love for Isis. It drove him mad, and he ended up right where I am—begging for death. The links... Malachi had somehow linked with Isis's through her magical pull. Magic really was a cruel thing.
"I'm sorry about your father. I know what he went through was horrible. I only wish you hadn't seen it."
I was comforting a psychotic killer. My life had hit an all time level of crazy that I couldn't understand.
His head dropped, and a flicker of humanity crossed his eyes. For a moment, he wasn't a ruthless, immortal killer; he was a man with painful memories of heartbreak and loss.
"He was a selfish man. When my mother died, he drowned himself in alcohol every night. When Isis came along, she never cared for him, but he fell in love with her anyways. He didn't worry how killing himself would affect anyone else."
I stifled a gasp when his blackened pools turned into soft brown eyes.
"You don't have to be on the dark side. Join the light." I realized how dopey and corny that sounded the second it left my lips. He'd distracted me from my pain by forcing me to focus on his, and all I wanted to do was help him. Psycho girl that I was these days.
He laughed bitterly before taking a deep breath.
"Not likely, Aria. I have my issues with the way things worked out for me. I plan to kill anyone who gets in the way for my plans. I will not be stopped. It's kind of sad though, since I feel a connection with you—almost like real family. I wish things could be different for that reason.
"I haven't had family in a long, long, long time. It's nice, but I'll accomplish my goals, and when the time comes, I'll take your life. Although you may not seek death so desperately then as you have today. Speaking of which... You may as well go on home. You're not dying today. I can't allow it."
He smiled tightly. My madness had tried to subside, but I was still craving a way out. "Sorry, but you'll have to blame Isis for that."
"It will save my family if I hand myself over. They'll stop looking for me if I'm found," I said quietly, looking down to my hands in my lap.
"No. It wouldn't. Graven wants you, but he'd still be after your family even if you weren't in the picture. It's the Coldwell curse. Taking your life won't do anything but break the hearts of the ones you leave behind, and your sacrifice won't be a sacrifice at all—it would be a pointless death attached to devastation."
His words resonated, and I fought back a new stabbing wave of painful pricks to my heart. He was right. As much as I hated him for it, he was right. My death would only free me, but it would destroy everyone else.
