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“I appreciate the offering for dinner, but I’m afraid I’ve arrived with more dire, urgent needs from you.”
Lord Egretz remains standing, his hands behind his back like the gentleman mask he wears daily. His eyes are wide with anticipation.
“I am sorry to hear that,” he says, a mad look in his eyes. “Please, proceed.”
I lift up my right hand and shine the coin at him. His eyes flicker to it.
“I want to get rid of this,” I say firmly. “It has caused me too much trouble. But I want to get rid of it in a way that doesn’t harm me. Specifically, one that doesn’t cause me to lose a limb.”
Lord Egretz chimes with laughter, his face animated and dark.
“Oh, indeed, dear one, I believe we can do just that for you.”
With my hand still in the air and his eyes lingering on it, he licks his lips like a predator. He steps toward me, captivated, then reaches out his own hand to lightly touch my elbow.
“You must have an offer for me in return, dear Lana? You are too clever not to.”
His fingertips linger on my skin, and after suppressing an unpleasant shiver, I continue on, keeping my tone stern and direct.
“You can have the coin. You can become the heir. You can have it all. Just get this out of me without hurting me. Please.”
Lord Egretz erupts in utter glee, his fingers remaining on my arm as I try to let it fall. Something eerie cascades through me, and I begin to regret coming here.
“We can do that for you, dear one,” he says, still not looking at me. “I’m afraid, though, I’m not going to be able to guarantee no loss of your limb.”
His eyes magnetize to me like a robot, and as I try to step back, he twists my arm by my wrist and yanks it behind my back. I hear a ghastly crack as he holds me in an awkward position, and I scream out as white-hot pain soars through me.
“Fucking, fucker!” I screech.
I manage to get one of my feet to collide with his as he begins his evil guffaw once more. I catch the end of a toe, which makes him scurry backward and call out to his minions. He snaps at them as I struggle, but he is a demon, too, and likely a lot stronger than I will ever be.
“Come, come, now!” he calls out, still celebratory. “Let’s set her at the dinner table like a good girl.”
Multiple demons that look like miniature versions of Systorak emerge, crawling with a disturbing clicking sound toward me. Egretz has both my arms twisted around and behind my back now, and I know if I move even slightly in the opposing direction, something else will likely break.
“You walked right into my web, dear Lana,” he says, tutting his lips. “Now you are going to get what you want without your beloved Systorak.”
I struggle as he and his minions push my face into the table, multiple demons shoving into my left shoulder while others stretch out my right arm. Feeling like a lamb going to slaughter, my heart is ready to burst while my wrist throbs in agony with my arm pinned to the cutting board.
Egretz takes my wrist and squeezes it. A wave of fresh pain moves through me, and I bellow, continuously squirming, too strong to ever give in.
“This is going to really hurt,” Egretz whispers.
Where have I heard that before?
A demon enters and hands him a machete that Egretz raises into the air over me. I see it glimmer under the bright lighting before he brings it down on the table.
NINETEEN
SYSTORAK
I hung my head low the entire time I removed my things from Lana’s tower. I wanted to tell her how much she meant to me, how my chest felt strained when she wasn’t around, that the very sight of her could nourish every ailment I have ever had. But all of it felt like flowery words. Words that she would likely feel were used for show rather than genuine affection.
I thought about pounding on the bathroom door she locked herself in to get her to at least listen. Then maybe, she would know how much she means to me: enough to fight for her when she wanted me the least.
Alas, I maintained my distance, and after muttering a few pathetic words to the world, I departed into a life without Lana, but which turned out to be that grim, stark, colorless existence I hadn’t realized I was living before.
I returned to my own lair and dropped my things on the floor of the foyer. I didn’t bother to gather them and put them in their proper place. It didn’t feel like there was a point to it at all. I crawled into bed, trying to bury my regrets into sleep.
