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My thoughts are sluggish. At first, I don’t understand. Lifting my head is a monumental effort, but as I look into Alaric’s face, everything becomes clear.
“You saved me,” I rasp.
His carefully neutral expression returns to a scowl. After a long moment, he says, “I should have let you drown.” Only there is no bite to his words.
“Thank you.”
At that, Alaric goes perfectly still, as if he doesn’t quite know what to do with my gratitude.
I try to sit up, but my entire body is shaking uncontrollably. Everything hurts, and I’m exhausted.
Moving around to my back, he lifts me, helping me to stand then drapes my left arm over his shoulder. I do what I can to assist him. He’s so warm, and I’m so cold it feels like I’m being held against heated metal. My feet drag over the ground with every step. Alaric makes a derisive sound and hauls me over his shoulder.
I must pass out because the next thing I know, I come to, propped against a rock wall like a rag doll. Alaric kneels with his back to me, building a fire.
Varin?I call to the demon in my head.
If you had hoped to be rid of me by nearly dying, I regret to inform you that it did not work,they bite out, tone seething.
I press my lips into a tight line from an unexpected wave of emotion at hearing their voice.I am glad.
Varin doesn’t speak anymore but I feel a flash of some emotion, but it’s gone before I can identify it.
Once the flames are strong enough to cast their heat to where I sit, Alaric straightens and comes to crouch in front of me.
“You called the demons down on us all.” He narrows his gaze, studying me. “They spoke to you—theyrecognizedyou.” It’s not a question.
Better a harmony of demons than a cruelty of saints,Varin says derisively.Those demons were corrupted.
“That is impossible.” Varin’s comment is so shocking I speak aloud by mistake.
Alaric lists his head to the side. “You are a confounding creature. It is as if you cannot decide if you want to kill me or not.”
Corrupted? How could that happen?
Like any human, there are many things that can corrupt my kind, though cruelty is the surest way. I was already imprisoned before they escaped the Otherworld.
Then… are saints real too?
Varin’s laugh causes me to wince.What do you think saints are? Demons and saints,Varin says in a mocking sing-song voice.They are but two sides of the same coin.
I thought exactly what everyone believes them to be. The spirits of those who have passed on from this world and into the Otherworld.
Alaric’s hands cup my face, deep blue eyes searching mine. “Are you dying, little nightmare?”
My lips part, but my throat is dry, and I need to swallow before I can find my voice. “No… I am fine.”
He releases me and sits back on his heels. “That demon knew you.”
“I… it didn’t,” I say. “How?”
Was that the same one who chased me when I returned to Windbury after Kitty’s wedding?
Alaric regards me, waiting for me to speak coherently. I can’t stop shaking, but it must be shock, because the air is warm. Almost uncomfortably so. When I don’t, he wordlessly gets up and walks away.
I think over what happened, trying to piece things together. Everything comes in fractured images. My thoughts catch on the moment the demon and I faced off and how Varin wrenched control away from me. Even though I suspect they used much of their power to keep us alive in the water, there is a part of me that feels violated. In this weakened state, what little control I have on my heightened emotions slips, and I can’t stop my frustration from surfacing.
Do not ever attempt to control my body again without my permission. I seethe.
