“Train me to what?”
“Absorb power—unlimited power. You can harness the void if it’s your truest desire. We’ve been searching for one like you.”
I stare at it. It does sound appealing, to be in control of my magic, but then I wouldn’t need Carter. I mean, I would need Carter because I love him, but what would happen? Could I really get my own magic? Not to mention I’d have to trust a demon, to be trained by one and take down my own people. That’s not happening.
“I have another question,” I start.
“Enough answering questions. I’m bored. I’m going to ask you one.” It looks at me. “Why are you here?”
“I told you—”
It squeezes my chin in its hand. When it’s this close to me, I can see that its human body is starting to melt off under its power; it’s too strong to be contained by a vessel.
“The real reason,” it hisses.
I meet its gaze. “I came to save my boyfriend.”
“Your boyfriend. How pathetically romantic.”
“Yeah, I thought so, too. What with the facing impending death and all.” It slaps me, its claws digging into my face, tearing some of the flesh. It hurts, but I won’t give it the satisfaction of crying out.
“You have a snappy tongue and it’s getting you into trouble,” it says. “What’s this boyfriend’s name and why would we have him here?”
I start to answer, but there’s a crash in the hallway and screaming. Kriegen points at two of its minions to go check it out. As they move, the ceiling falls in on them. I close my eyes, in some lame effort to protect myself. When I look up, I see Carter, smiling at me. Kriegen stands against a wall, not thwarted at all by the intrusion.
“You must be Kriegen,” he says to it. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
It presses its lips into a smile and pushes off the wall. “You’re the boyfriend.”
“Guilty,” he says. He holds out a hand to it. “William Carter Prescott. Can’t say it’s a pleasure.”
It looks at his hand, but doesn’t take it.
“Smart choice. It’s laced with this really disgusting butter spray—and butter has an awful lot of salt,” Carter says. Spray-on butter. I love him.
It’s all very quiet for a second as Carter leans into me on the wheel. “I’ll get you out of this,” he says. His hand moves over mine as he tries to undo the wrist restraint, but it doesn’t budge. His magic, the void, forms in my gut, as Kriegen laughs behind Carter.
“Your body is melting,” he scoffs at it, and gets back to work on my restraints. His eyes are light even though I know he’s stressed out. I messed this up. He wasn’t really in hell before—not if he’s just met Kriegen. I brought him here. How did he find me? Together, we use magic to free my wrists; Kriegen’s voice calls out.
“Tell me, William Carter Prescott, what you know about your mommy.”
Carter stiffens and turns slowly, his face scrunched up in hurt or confusion or anger—I’m not sure what. I touch his shoulder gently, but he takes a step forward. “The demons confused her, tricked her, promised her things that they couldn’t deliver.”
Kriegen raises an eyebrow, an amused smile on its face, and moves toward Carter. “I bet Victor wouldn’t tell you the whole truth though, not when it would make him look like an idiot. She was a brilliant witch, William, and they couldn’t handle that. They couldn’t see mommy’s vision.”
Each time it says “mommy” it’s like a slap in the face. Even to me, and that thing isn’t my mom. It moves closer to Carter as it speaks, and I see him squeeze his hand into a tight fist with each word. I try to focus the magic on the rest of the restraints, because it’s doing it on purpose, trying to distract us.
Kriegen tsks. “I’ll tell you the story. Her father was a believer in the untapped potential of the void, of the demonic power, and she spent her life trying to prove his theories right. That one day some witch would be able to access both sides of magic. She told Victor that she wanted to be the witch to wield that kind of power. The council laughed at her.”
Carter doesn’t move, but Kriegen’s in his face, only inches away, hissing words at him.
“They said she was crazy, but she wasn’t crazy. She knew there was a way, and she tried to convince her husband. He wouldn’t hear it. She pleaded to the council, but they laughed at her. They said demonic magic didn’t work. She argued that the demons used the void, and why couldn’t witches do the same? They exiled her. Not forcibly, but subtly, until she became nothing more than a pretty face in the crowd, because of her ideas. Even to her husband. She was merely a toy for him to use as he pleased. After that, she decided she would prove it.
“She didn’t plan to become a demon, only to access the void. But the demons were more open and driven, more willing to hear her thoughts and help her. Then it was easy. All she had to do was drain a witch of power and disappear. Voilà,” it said with a snap. “But then she got pregnant, right after she killed the witch for her transition. She was going to run, but Daddy found out and Mommy had to wait for nine months in a cellar until Daddy’s little boy was born—and then he tossed her out on the streets and left her to die. What Daddy doesn’t know is as soon as he tossed her out, she was saved by those who wanted her—and she changed.”
Carter is stiff as a board. Kriegen is his mom. I want it to be a lie, but it makes too much sense. We’re both halflings. I study Carter’s stance, and even though he doesn’t speak or move, all of his muscles are tense. He’s spent so long looking for her, and then to find her here. Has he known all this time?
Kriegen laughs in his face and then gets quiet. “Did Daddy tell you that Mommy came back for you when you were small? That she wanted to be with you, to take the magic she knew you had inside and teach you how to use it? Both of the magics.”
“Stop,” he says through his teeth.
“And your father said no. Victor didn’t want you to have more power than he did. He tried to kill her.”
“Shut up.”
“All your Mommy wanted was to feel like she mattered. To have power. She tried to fit in with the witches, but the demons loved her more. They needed her.”
Carter doesn’t move.
“She’s been seeking you, William. She’s been tearing your world apart to try to find you, and here you are.” Kriegen reaches out and strokes his cheek. Carter just stands there, like he’s not able to move. I’m not even sure that he’s breathing. “And I didn’t even have to do anything to get you here.”
“You didn’t—you took Penelope! You lured me here!”
Kriegen raises an eyebrow. “No, she volunteered to come. To save you. Isn’t that right, kitten?” As soon as she says it, Carter looks toward me. Okay, so I’m an idiot. “Young love is so sweet. Too bad she didn’t know we didn’t have you—and yet here you are. It’s perfect. Better, even, because instead of one halfling, we got two.”
The demons jump into action. I leap free from the wheel. Girly demon catches me, digs its claws into my free arm. I cry out as blood drips down the cracks of wood. Brown loafers demon grabs a handful of knives and stands behind a line. One zooms toward my face and lands on the board an inch from my eye. It does it again and nicks my leg.
Carter leaps toward me, but more demons fall down from his hole in the ceiling and force him to the ground. “Let her go,” Carter yells.
Kriegen puts up a hand and the demons stop with the knives. She bends down toward the ground and strokes a piece of his hair. “I want you to stay, William. If you swear on a blood oath that you will stay with me, I will spare her.”