Cursed (Demon Kissed #2) (15 page)

Those last words made my rage burn.
Apryl’s death was his fault. My mother’s death, my house burning,
the demon kiss, losing most of my soul, the pain, losing Collin—all
of it was his fault. If Kreturus didn’t want me so badly, none of
those things would have happened. Apryl would be at home with Mom.
The force that was destroying my life was his fault. I wanted to
kill him at that moment. If it were possible, I would have buried
my blade in his chest and did so with glee. But, I knew there would
be major problems if I killed Kreturus. Somehow, if I killed him I
would become Queen of the Underworld. I didn’t know how that would
happen, but it was part of the prophecy. I didn’t want to stay down
here. I didn’t want to be the Demon Queen. Screw that! But, there
was no point in explaining that now. There was no point at all. She
was trapped here. The best I could do was to give her some hope. So
I nodded at her, “I’ll try. He has two things I want. And I’m not
giving them up. Not for anything.” I smiled at her, glad to talk to
her again. Just sitting by her and hearing her voice was amazing.
My sister was back from the dead. She was damaged, but she was
still mine.

I stood up slowly. Apryl was sitting
next to me, her arms slowly healing. “Come on. Let’s go find
Shannon and Eric. They have to be nearby. I’m glad they ran. There
was no point in all three of us getting eaten, but I didn’t see
where they went. Hopefully, they didn’t go too far.” I brushed the
dirt off of my jeans.

Apryl remained seated, leaning her
head against a stone. “Can’t. I’m bound to the Pool of Lost Souls.
I can’t leave here. I can move between the portal that you entered
and the Pool. That’s it.”

I looked down at her for a moment.
There was only one way to help her, and it was the same path that
would free Collin. I’d have to kill Kreturus and deal with the
consequences. “I’ll come back for you.”

She nodded up at me. “I hope
so.”

CHAPTER
SIXTEEN

Leaving Apryl behind felt wrong, but I
knew the Valefar could be forced to do certain things and they had
to obey. She was bound to the Pool of Lost Souls and could not
leave. My feet stumbled in the darkness. I could see all right, but
I was so tired. I’d been walking for hours and was no closer to
finding Eric and Shannon. It was difficult to keep track of time in
this place. There was no natural rhythm to things; no rising or
setting of the sun, no sleep or wake. I wasn’t the only one down
here who didn’t sleep. The echoes of creatures could be heard
constantly, never pausing, never falling into the natural silence
of slumber.

I’d hoped to find Shannon and Eric by
now, but it was becoming doubtful that I would see them again.
Holding my arms tightly against my chest, I continued walking
alone. They were down here somewhere, lost, because of
me.

Eric’s reaction at the Pool surprised
me. I didn’t expect him to be the one to falter and step into the
Pool. If we hadn’t been warned… If we all walked into the Pool… I
shook my head clearing the grizzly thought from my mind. It didn’t
matter now. They were gone. Lost. I’d be lucky if I ever saw them
again. Hopefully they were still together.

Maybe the reason I hadn’t seen them
yet was that they turned back. It would have been easy to run from
the Pool of Lost Souls and back out the portal. A small part of me
hoped they turned back. It was possible that Shannon pulled Eric
back to the entrance. Martis were strong. She could have dragged
him the entire way. It was possible they were safe in the catacombs
right now. But, if that were true then Eric wasn’t safe. There was
a crushing sensation in my chest as I thought about it. The Martis
condemned him to death. Eric was in danger no matter where he went.
I didn’t know whether to grieve, because they were lost in the
Underworld, or be upset that they ditched me and left. Or they
could be dead—killed by some creature I’d yet to see. The thought
of two people who cared about me dying before we even started was
unbearable.

Don’t think about
it,
I told myself.
They’re fine. They’re… somewhere else. Safe. Take care of
Ivy. Keep walking. Don’t stop.

This place was too deadly to let fear overtake
me. I had to focus. There were no more free passes, and no one left
to help me. Having people with me had made me feel more secure.
Even if we weren’t best friends, we all wanted to stay alive. It
gave us all a common goal, at least for a little while. There was
no talk of demon blood, Seekers, or Martis. Now they were gone and
a creepy feeling that I was being followed was gnawing at me.
Ignoring it, I decided to focus on what I came here for—to get
Collin out. I didn’t even know how to find him down
here.

After I passed the Pool of Lost Souls,
the rocky terrain shifted to flatness. There was flat rock as far
as I could see. It gave off the same dull rust-colored glow that
was on most of the rocks here. Darkness masked the cavern ceiling.
It was so high above me that creatures could fly overhead without
me seeing them. I felt a gust of wind periodically or heard the
flapping wings of some oversized creature. By the time I looked,
they were either gone or masked by darkness that my Martis vision
couldn’t penetrate. The eerie sounds of dripping water and the
calls of a million muffled birds echoed around me. The birds—at
least I hoped they were birds—weren’t next to me, but they were
nearby.

There were so many paths to choose
from that I had no idea which way to go. There was no trace of Eric
and Shannon. I decided to keep heading towards Collin. If I met up
with Shannon and Eric again, good. But if I didn’t, I was here for
Collin.

I took a step onto one of the paths,
hesitated, and stepped back. Which way should I go? Where was he? I
kicked at the dirt with my sneaker. Before I realized it, I was
stepping onto each path. I stood there for a moment, moving the
dirt around with my foot, and stepped back. The trails splintered
into eight paths after the Pool. When I stepped on the second to
last path, I felt something. I didn’t expect it, but it was there.
The bond. When I stood on that trail, the old feeling of the rubber
band in my gut pulled me gently. It wanted me to go down this path.
So, that was how I decided where to go. It took some time whenever
I was at a junction, but I was sure I was going the right
direction.

After walking for a while, I came to
grips with the fact that I was alone. The odds of me finding
Shannon and Eric again were miniscule. This place was a maze. And
the deeper I went into the Underworld, the scarier it got. I wasn’t
sure how I was going to do this. I sat down hard, and leaned
against a large rock that protruded from the ground. The cold crept
through my torn tee shirt and felt good against my sore back. I
closed my eyes for a moment. When I reopened them, Collin was
standing in front of me.

His dark hair hung in his eyes, as he
looked at me. At first I thought it was my imagination, or another
demon trick to get me to fork over my soul. I drank him in anyway.
God, I missed him so much. His voice. His smile. His touch. When he
was around I felt more complete. More like the girl I should have
been. I gazed at the Collin-mirage, wishing it were really him, but
knowing that wasn’t possible. He was a prisoner somewhere down
here. His powers were gone, or he could have efanotated himself
out. No, whatever stood in front of me was not Collin.

“
Oh Ivy, you shouldn’t
have come here,” he said. He didn’t move towards me. He just stood
there, looking down at me. My eyebrows rose on my face in
disbelief. His voice. That was his voice. Could it be him? Was this
really Collin? I rose slowly and took a step towards him. The bond
tugged faintly. The bond. It’s him! Without another thought, I
rushed into his arms. He wrapped them tightly around me as I buried
my face in his chest. Tears flowed down my cheeks, as I looked back
up at him. His fingers laced through my hair. He looked at me like
he thought he’d never see me again. He whispered, “You’re not safe
here. You need to go back.”

I pulled away from him. “But, I came
for you. And I found you. We can go back now. We can just leave
this awful place.” I threaded my fingers through his and pulled his
warm hand, but he didn’t move. He looked like he wanted to say
something, but no words fell from his perfect lips. “What is it?”
My eyes widened, as dread filled me. Something was wrong. Why
wouldn’t he tell me?

“
I can’t leave.” He
swallowed hard, with his blue eyes piercing mine.

I shook my head, not understanding.
“What? Of course you can. I kicked the Guardian’s ass. We can walk
right past and he won’t even see us leave. Collin, it’s not far.”
But the expression on his face told me it had nothing to do with
how far it was. I felt my heart sink into my stomach. “You have to
tell me. I’m not leaving here without you. Tell me, Collin.
Please.”

He looked away from me, and pushed his
hair away from his face. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep
breath; “I’m not really here with you right now. I thought I felt
the bond earlier and wanted to make sure you weren’t here. I
thought it might have been a vision, but it wasn’t because here you
are.” He took my hands in his and spoke urgently. “You have to
leave. The only reason I’m still alive is because I’m bait. They
want you. They’re keeping me hidden near Kreturus and hoping you’ll
come all the way down there to try and save me. You can’t do this
Ivy.” He gently brushed my cheek. “He wants you and will stop at
nothing to get you. He wants your power. Please, promise me you
won’t do this. Please.” His eyes were glassy as he begged me to
turn back.

“
I can’t go back. No,
please, listen to me. The Martis condemned me. If I go back to the
surface they’ll kill me. There is no safe place for me, Collin.
There’s nowhere to hide. I’m dead no matter where I go.” I paused,
pulling him to me. My fingers rested on his face, making him meet
my eyes. “I can’t leave you here. I love you, Collin. Don’t tell me
to turn back again. I can’t do it. I can’t pretend you don’t love
me. I can’t act like we never met.” His lips parted, but no words
came out. His gaze rested on my face and looked grieved. I didn’t
know what else to do so I pulled him to me, clutching him tighter
in my arms. After a few moments, I loosened my grip and kissed his
temple. “Tell me how you’re here, but you’re not here. I don’t
understand.” He looked away from me, and tried to step back, but I
wouldn’t let him. “Collin. Tell me.”

“
It’s a Valefar power. It
was the only way I could see if you were really here. I used the
bond to track you to this point. You were so scared earlier that it
wasn’t hard to find you. The bond is more intense when you’re
afraid. After that, the bond paled, so I thought it was a vision
and you were gone again. But the bond didn’t completely break off.”
He swallowed hard. “I’m not really here. For me it’s like a dream.
My real body is hidden below. What’s in front of you is a
manifestation of dark magic.”

“
I don’t understand. Why
didn’t you teach me to do this when you showed me how to use my
Valefar powers? What did you do to yourself?” My eyes lingered on
his face. Dread crept up my throat as his silence became longer and
longer. “Collin…?”

“
I didn’t teach you
because it would have corrupted you further. It’s an acquired
power. One that can be used when the right things are within reach.
It requires a sacrifice. Blood.” He closed his eyes. “With enough
demon blood, a Valefar can split in two. The second body, this one,
becomes whatever I want. It looks like whoever I want, says
whatever I want, and sounds the way I want. It leaves my true body,
and is typically used to lure prey back to the Valefar. It has
risks that most wouldn’t attempt, but I had to. I split myself, and
made myself look and sound like the Collin you saw three months
ago. But this body is a shell and will dissipate as soon as I
release the magic I’m using—or I become too weak to maintain it.
And I’m weak Ivy. You’ll start to see what I look like now. What
they’ve done to me.”

I couldn’t breathe. The horror of what
he did choked me. A sacrifice? What did he do? Months ago, he
willingly took my place and endured agony since then, just to warn
me to turn back now. I’d pushed him farther into this by making him
come looking for me. No words would form in the storm of thoughts
battling through my mind. Instead, I reached for his face and
pressed my lips against his. When he didn’t resist, I pressed my
body harder to him, wrapping my hands around his neck. My tongue
traced his soft mouth, as his lips parted and I kissed him deeper.
My heart raced in my chest. Warm tears streaked down my cheeks. His
thumbs brushed through the tear trail, and then Collin’s lips moved
to trace the path down my cheeks. He gently kissed the tears away.
Then he pressed his lips softly against each closed eyelid. He
pulled me against his chest and kissed the top of my head. I could
hear his pounding heart as he held me close.

“
I’ll help you as much as
I can,” he said. “But, I have to be careful. If they notice what
I’ve done, they’ll know you’re here.” I nodded. “Ivy, nothing is as
it seems down here. Be especially careful of anyone who claims to
be me. Run from any place that is beautiful. Beauty doesn’t belong
down here. Soon, you’ll come to a beautiful forest. You’ll see what
I mean when you get there. Vile creatures live there. Remember that
demons aren’t the only things that can kill you down here. Just
about anything can tear you to shreds.” He pulled me away from his
chest, and tilted his head. “Did you say you kicked the Guardian’s
ass?” A crooked smile slid across his face.