With a half bow, Kala’el whisked through the circle, leaving me alone. There was no way I wouldn’t choose. I would rather close my eyes and blindly point, in turn forfeiting my life before being left to the mercy of Kala'el. But I didn’t tell him that. Not yet at least.

Slowly spinning and taking it all in, single words shot through my mind.  Identical. Impossible. Indistinguishable.  Interchangeable. The circle of hooded figures was all these things and more.  How on earth would I ever choose the right one? Out of all the words going through my head, there was one clearly reserved for me…Screwed.

Pacing the circle slowly before them all, I took a moment at each figure, hoping…praying. Ivan’s scent filled my nostrils at each one, Identical, Interchangeable. Not allowed to touch them, I neared them hoping one would flinch since Ivan tended to shift away whenever I displayed any affection. No one flinched—Impossible, Indistinguishable.

Stepping back, I thought over all things Ivan. He was an anomaly I had yet to understand but of one thing I was sure. He suffered from the same sickness we all deal with at some point in our lives. Had he not experienced it a few times with Kheelan and Jaime? Whether of love or of simple possessiveness, he'd experienced it. It was the primal energy running through the veins of anyone with a shred of feeling for another person, the single most powerful of all emotions—jealousy.

It was a long shot but it was all I had before randomly pulling down someone’s hood. I would forfeit my life but all be damned if I would turn into Kala’el’s new toy.

Turning, I reached out to Kala’el, the look in my eyes leaving room for no interpretation.

He raised a brow. “What are you up to, Halfling?” his voice slid out slow and curious. Coming toward me with a victorious air, he slid my hand into his and jerked me toward him. “Are you giving up?”

His royal Essence sat back in his throne, the same victory plaguing his movements.

Looking back to Kala’el, I braced. “You said you would teach me things Ivan never did and that together we would be the ultimate power. Your offer is tempting.”

Kala’el neared my mouth. I flinched back. “But…before I make my choice, I want a see what you can offer.”  Surprise flicked over his face as well as raw desire. My heart in my throat, I prayed I was doing the right thing. But I’d cast my net…there was no turning back. “Kiss me and teach me.” I breathed, my body arching into his, reacting to his nearness. "Show me these things you spoke of."

With blistering wickedness, his gaze darkened. The intense blue of his eyes froze over to the blackness of unknown depths, like sinking to the ocean floor only to discover that you were only falling deeper. My stomach churned, begging me leave but there was no leaving. There was finding Ivan or death.

Kala’el’s glamour expanded astronomically, dangerously. Like looking straight to the sun, he flared blinding me for a slight moment. Recovering, I lowered my hands that shielded my eyes to find him saturated in full glamour, in pure castigating light. His skin glowed in luring waves while his hair lashed around him like thousands of gold rods whipping the surrounding air for the cruelest of crimes. For a second, while looking directly at him, I could have sworn I heard the faintest of songs calling my name…

 A sweeping arrogance radiated from him. To his eyes, he was a supreme being existing only to bring me pleasure.  And sadly to my eyes in that moment, he was. He was beauty, perfection. He was going to give it all he had to make me want to stay there with him. Damn, it was a gamble. I could fall into his kiss and never return. I didn’t know what secrets his lips held, what power he had. If what he looked like now was any indication as to what his mouth was to offer, I was done for.

Not saying a word, his cool fingers caressed my face with a ravaging tenderness, one screaming of leashed restraint, of scathing desire. His black eyes twinkled dangerously.  Kala’el was exactly what I didn’t want….but what in that moment, I needed. My primal instincts flared, wanting to brush his hand away. It was the part of me that regardless of fusion marks belonged to Ivan.

And that was it. Above all, I still belonged to Ivan. Regardless of what marks were on my skin, there was no denying our fusion. Our souls bound into one—One soul, one life. Those were our vows.  It would pain Ivan to see me in Kala’el’s arms. It had to. He had to feel something and through those feelings, I would find him.

 Sliding all my chips onto that one wager, I lowered my hands offering myself to Kala’el. Sliding his hand down my cheek, he trailed the path to the back of my neck. Possessively, he gripped the back of my neck and crashed against my lips with a skillfulness that evaporated my knees.

Steadying me, he pulled me closer, taut muscle pressed against my melting body. Smelling of the ocean and of rain, Kala’el's scent invaded my nose. Continuously he sought my lips until consciousness seemed to slip into a tunnel of black. Inhaling his intoxicating fragrance once more as if needing it to keep me from falling, visions suddenly unfurled within my mind.

My breathing caught in my throat because the thoughts weren’t mine. Images of him branding me with his teeth, making me his possession flooded my consciousness. His teeth punctured my skin, disappearing into the depths of my flesh  Dark vines shot from the lesions and entwined with my body.  They were his fusion marks. He fed from me as he made love to me and I could hear his silent whispers in my thoughts. My fairest Queen, he whispered over and over as I slowly suffocated with his marks.

Instinctively I pulled back but Kala’el caged me in his arms. I struggled to move away but without air, I was weak and everything slowly tunneled back to hazed images and blackness. I realized a moment too late what he meant to do. With me passed out, I was there for his taking and no one could argue what my answer truly was. By the time I woke up to argue my point, it will have been too late. I’d already be Kala’el’s.

His power was already coursing through me, our minds already linked…and then it hit me. Surfacing from the darkening places in my mind was a memory of Kheelan, of the day he rescued me from the hospital. His voice whispered past,

Ivan doesn’t need to be near you to read you, Charlotte. Our kind are linked and we communicate through that connection.

My breathing hitched. I may not have had my own powers but with Kala’el’s tearing through me, I had all the power I needed.  Taking hold of the back of his neck, I pressed Kala’el deeper into our exchange, needing more. 

A fire blazed through my veins. Kala’el’s power was raw, all the elements synched together to produce a searing light that scorched me within. Focusing on that power, I thought of Ivan. For a moment, there was nothing. In my thoughts, everything was in a pause as I drifted about the darkness. I called to him, a faint call as I no longer had the energy for anything else. But there was nothing, just myself falling deeper into the beautiful creature that sought to kill me by kiss.

Somewhere in the black of my eyes, a vision flashed of what appeared to be a stack of worn books in someone’s hand—Ivan’s hands.  It was hazy and it streamed into my consciousness for a slight moment, but in that instant I was seeing whatever Ivan was seeing that very moment. One thing became painfully clear. Wherever he was, it wasn’t in the same room as me as part of the deathly circle. The place he was in had windows, obvious because of the foggy light that fell across the wooden floor beneath the books.

Kala’el privy to my thoughts pressed me closer to his body, invading my mouth with authority I regret giving him. He sought to shut me up before I voiced my answer. Pressing balled fists against Kala’el’s chest, I tried prying myself away but he deepened our kiss, taking what little air I clung onto for life.

His abundance of glamour was slowly suffocating me while he possessed my mouth. My skin hummed with his energy, a frigid slash of power cutting through my body. It converged at my stomach, the way my own powers used to.  And like my powers, instead of succumbing to them, I honed them as best I could. Traveling through my consciousness, I used Kala’el to expand my connection to Ivan.

Opening my eyes in our kiss, I felt Ivan again. But this time, Ivan froze. The books slowly fell from his hands as awareness dawned on him. He doubted what he felt but then uttered in a hopeful whisper, “Charlotte?”

He felt me! All at once, I pushed Kala’el away with a scathing fury. It was his own power being used against him so I was able to break our kiss. When our connection broke however, I was left weak and panting for air. Stumbling to the ground, I struggled for air. My lungs locked in place while I desperately tried to haul in something, anything with which to speak. The room spun around me, the circle of hooded figures cutting like a blue line in my vision. But I strained dammit because I knew my answer.

Keeping my eyes tacked to the floor so the spinning didn’t cause me to pass out, I wheezed, “Ivan—He isn’t here.” Stumbling onto my feet, I held a staying hand to Kala’el who tried to assist me. “Stay away from me you bastard! You wanted to trick me! The real Ivan is not in the line….”

His essence sat forward slowly, raising a finger.  “You are willing to lay your life on that answer, Halfling?”

Well, hell. He spoke English. But I could not sit there and argue the futility of Kala’el. He needed to know that, “I am willing to lay my love on that answer. Ivan is not in the circle.”

His Essence snapped his glass fingers, the eerily beauty of the tinkling bracelets rippling through the air. After a moment, one of the hooded figures lowered their hoods. And all at once, I lost my will to breathe.

Glowing like the most beautiful of dreams was Ivan.

His essence said, “Even with him staring back at you, Halfling. Will you keep to your answer?”

Rapt, I walked toward him. This man that looked like Ivan looked at me for a long time, his eyes blank.

“He is forbidden to touch you or he dies and you’re mine.”   Kala’el’s footsteps approached me from behind but couldn’t move my eyes from Ivan. I was half scared that maybe if I looked away, when I turned back, he would be gone.

His lips brushing my ear with each word, Kala’el purred, “His essence asked you a question.”

I doubted. For all I knew what I saw while kissing Kala’el was all a figment of my desperation or even something Kala’el fed into my mind.

But no! I heard him call to me…

Trembling, I gripped my soiled dress for strength. I could very well lose my life with the next words, but I said them anyway. Looking this man with the face of my love, I said, “I am certain he isn’t in the line.”

For a long moment, there was silence. It was the do or die moment. In a blink, the man that looked like Ivan dropped the glamour and became just another beautiful faerie.

Kala’el released a low growl. "This is your last chance...Even if it means the destruction of your beloved temple, of your cherished Grace? How do you think Ivan will feel knowing you had the power to save his mother yet you let her perish?”

What?

“Don’t believe me? Well then,” he stepped closer and upon my lips whispered, “Illumino.”

Between us, a sheer black cloud materialized from thin air. I could see Kala’el’s evil smirk on the other side when images started flashing within the cloud as flashes of lightning. And just like that, the world seemed to stop.

Within the cloud, I saw the Temple bursting in flames. In the midst of the raging fire, temple servants fell at the hand of countless bounty hunters. Piercing screams penetrated the air as the monsters clawed the life from the harmless servants. It was an ambush, a slaughter. But worse, at the altar was Her Grace upon the slab I previously laid on…dead.

All at once the cloud was gone.  No lingering, no fading away, just gone. Gasping for air, I hadn’t even realized I wasn’t breathing.

Any thoughts?” Kala'el purred, raising a taunting brow. His confidence was sickening. Somehow he got off on the things he showed me but I knew it was because he was certain I would change my mind. Whatever the illumino was, to Kala'el it was the one thing that would break me.

My blood did run cold. The images were so real…but I didn’t trust him. He would show me anything to keep me away from Ivan. As far as I was concerned, he could take his images and shove it.

So I said, “You’re a liar.”

“Here in the spirit world, lies are not allowed." Kala'el said readily. "Everything I have shown you in the illumino may or may not be...dependant on your choice, of course. You may be able to save Her Grace and the Temple. The choice and risk is yours." Kala'el let out a satisfied sigh. “So tell me Halfling, what is your choice?”

Typical for a liar to say they aren’t lying. So I made my choice. “Where’s Ivan?”

“You fool!” Kala’el boomed, taking me into his hold. His claws digging into my skin, he pulled me close, a violent flame flickering in his eyes. “Will you ever give up?”

Shaking my head, I vowed. “Never.”  

From behind him, His Grand Essence lifted his hands ceremoniously. Suddenly Kala’el thrust me back into the arms of two guards. Coming closer, his eyes swirling in maddening crimson, he drew close to my ear.  Tracing a finger delicately down the side of my face as if trailing an invisible tear, he whispered, “I said I would break you Halfling and I will. I promise you I will.”

 He stepped back. “Take her away.”

With nothing more, he swished his robe behind him and whirled away. The guards tightened their grip on my arms, dragging me through the hooded crowds that separated as if for fear of disease.  I roared for them to let me go, asking where they were taking me. All I saw through the black curtains they approached was darkness.

Fighting to keep them from taking me, I dug my heels into the ground desperately trying to gain some traction with which to resist.  The guards simply lifted me, flailing me like a rag doll.  With no powers, I was defenseless.

Behind me, the crowds erupted back to their arguing, the two Essences back to their fist slamming. That didn’t concern me anymore. Lugging me into the dark, there was nothing but a narrow corridor that went on forever. Passing the intermittent torches offered little comfort.  There were just stone walls and stone floors, and stone cold darkness.

Reaching the end, there were two large doors and nothing more. What horrors lay behind those doors, I didn’t know but did it matter? I had failed. How could I have been so naïve to think I would have walked out of there with Ivan? Clearly, I was wrong.

Stopping before two huge doors, I thought the guards would just drag me right through them. I was wrong, again. Indifferently, they thrust me against the door, my already weary frame seeming to break on the impact. Why knock when they could just throw me?

Hitting the dusty floor with a thump, I coughed gasping for air but instead the dust invaded my lungs. The guards shifted back, turned on their heels and left me alone in the dark hall watching the outline of their silhouettes vanish further and further with each passing torch. Then they were gone.

I wanted to run after them. I wanted to be stupid and claw at their backs and make them and Kala’el pay for the torment they’d put me through. But I didn’t run after them. I didn’t make Kala’el pay for his abuse. I merely leaned my head back against the door and wept.

Not cried, as surprising as that was. Not the crazy hysterical crying, with loud sobs that would have echoed down the empty halls. No. There is a big difference between crying and weeping. And maybe I do shed one too many tears but take a person, any person and strip them down to nothing then toss them in the dark. What then?

Take away everything they love, the world they belong to, what then? So I wept silently, letting my soul pour out as one continuous hymn because I needed to. Because I had traveled so, so far and all that was left was…I didn’t even know…

Still not knowing, I knocked. Somehow my slamming body against the door didn’t alert whoever or whatever was on the other side of my arrival, so I knocked. Not with my hands but with my head. I let my head fall back in even thuds. I already had a splitting headache. Could it hurt anymore?

For a moment, nothing happened. Then of a sudden, the door opened and my head went flying back into the hard floor. And once more, I was wrong because that hurt like hell.  

Staring down at me was a small boy, about ten if not maybe younger. But for such an age, he was so beautiful it was painful to look directly at him. It was all the raw beauty of Kala’el but without the evil. He was an angel, his gray eyes sparkling with a purity that took my breath away.  Looking at me, his crystal eyes brimmed with questions. Obviously I didn’t belong there.

He voiced these questions, made obvious by the furrowing of his brows. Sadly, I didn’t understand him. Rolling onto my stomach in attempts of getting up, I lfound I couldn't breathe.

Behind the small boy, lecturing to a group of small children similar to the boy, was Ivan. No glamour, no illusion, it was just Ivan.

**

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