Down the Rabbit Hole - Book Four

24. Kill the Soul but Leave the Pain

"Well? What do you want?" Adara demands softly yet impatiently. We stand before one of the glowing tanks, looking like nothing more than shadows to any walking past us. "We're not even done sweeping the aquarium yet," she huffs, now sounds embarrassed as she goes on. "Something tells me Analia is sweeping through the botanical gardens faster than I can this aquarium, and I'm from here. That's embarrassing. So? If you have anything to say to me, then it had better be about the portals." She crosses her arms.

"Oh, it pertains to life and death," the Blood Prince growls faintly. Her brow is furrowed. "I ain't talkin' right here. Follow me," I mutter as I snake around her, slinking down a shallow flight of dark stairs.

She makes a sound of protest and I imagine her briefly looking around for either Deckum or Eve'Veil, both of whom I had insisted she leave behind if she wanted me to tell her anything important.

I can't believe she was stupid enough to fall for the oldest trick in the book! I totally just isolated her from her obnoxious posse of precious friends and now she reluctantly follows down this darkened hall that says something stupid like "Staff Only" or whatever.

But no one's around right now.

I quickly summon magic to pop the lock and now hurry down another flight of stairs before Adara can get too close. It's much brighter down here than it was above, but nevertheless, the lighting is a sickly, lurid green and plenty of shadows stretch between these massive pillars of concrete that fill this basement. A multitude of loud noises echo down in this cold, damp stone and metal chamber, strange pipes line the walls and ceiling, and even more stairs plunge further down into the establishment.

"What the...hell?" Adara cagily looks around. "Why are we down here?" She demands, her red lipstick looks black under these lights and her eyes practically glow. "An employee could catch us here. This is a maintenance facility." She stares at me like I'm the idiot.

"Oh," I scoff. "This won't take long." I turn to face her.

She anxiously takes a step back. "Listen, Vyndren, I get it your pissed off but -"

"No. No, Adara, ya don't get it," I snap. "I ain't just pissed off, I'm kluppin' betrayed. I'm crippled thanks to you. I'm broken thanks to you." I can feel my fury boil through in my veins the longer I glare at her. "You took all of my long and suffered for powers away from me and left me to rot and die alone in a cold, dark cage without so much as an explanation why." My vision practically doubles as I glower at her with disgust.

I can't believe I was ever so naïve and blind enough to ever have fallen in love with someone so cruel and selfish. I was just a means to an end to her! She only seemed like she gave a damn about me when she was poisoned by Blood Dreams, but that wasn't really her. The real her has only ever been interested in using me and casting me aside when she's done.

"What?!" She glares at me furiously. "Vyndren, I don't have the time or the patience for this tired crap right now! I'm not the source of all your problems despite whatever twisted, psychotic version of the truth you've been disillusioning yourself with!"

"Oh, so now I'm psychotic and delusional?!" I'm practically seeing red with fury.

"More than that! You're a sick bastard that lured me down to hash out more of the insanity you tried to spring on me back at the god forsaken asylum!"

"I was only in that god forsaken asylum because of you!" I explode. In the next heartbeat, I summon a sword in a flourish of magic and lunge for her.

Adara just as rapidly summons a sword to catch my black blade with.

We crash together with the unbridled force of a hurricane; our blades swing back and forth as violently and rapidly as strikes of lightning.

Adara dives to the side to miss my next onslaught, my blade cuts through a pipe of some sort and sparks rain down over us and the lights above us start flicking on and off chaotically.

Her blade slices past my temple right as mine grazes the side of her throat. 

Adara anxiously dodges to the side and swiftly kicks me back, I catch her leg and swing her into the wall. She ducks as my blade stabs the concrete her head was just at. She throws herself into me with a furious shriek and we're both thrown to the ground. She bats my sword out of my hand and presses her blade against my throat in one swift motion.

"Don't make me kill you!" She exclaims breathlessly.

"You already have!" I seize her blade in my hands, heedless of the way it cuts into my bare hands, and now I slam the blunt side of her sword against her jaw, hurling her off me. I leap to my feet and swing the sword for her neck just as she sits up, blood already runs from her busted mouth.

Adara swiftly summons air and blasts me off my feet.

I fly backwards over another flight of stairs and crash to the ground below hard enough to knock the sword from my hands. I roll and smack into the wall, seeing double as I groggily lift my head.

I vaguely register Adara standing at top of the stairs, I shakily reach for the sword in front of me.

It suddenly catches on fire.

I wildly recoil with a startled yelp, anxiously pressing myself against the wall as I stare in horror at the burning sword. Fire... Gods, why is it always fire?!

"You...psychotic son of a bitch!" Adara stands on the other side of the fiery sword, glowering down at me. "You tried to kill me!"

"Y-yeah," I stammer as I glance between her and the sword. Now my fear briefly is replaced with rage as I glare up at her. "And I'll try again till the kluppin' death of me!" I stagger up to my feet. "I've lost everythin' thanks to you, n' you're only where you are today because of me! Because of me, Adara!"

The flames between us rise higher and I anxiously back off.

"How can you say that?!" She furiously demands. "I've never tried to hurt you! The only thing I'm guilty of is trying to save your life! We're even!" She thunders, her eyes flashing with outrage. "I don't owe you or anybody a damn thing!"

I snarl with fury but she prattles on before I can say anything.

"So the next time you try to kill me, I won't hesitate to return the favor!" She summons another element and quickly quells the fire separating us; smoke billows up between us.

"You better believe there'll be a next time," I warn.

Her eyes darken. "Y'know after everything, I really think this has finally helped me decide something."

"And what'd that be?"

"It's how much I've really come to hate you," she hisses, now turns and marches back up the stairs.

I glare after her.

"C'mon, Von Vesymir!" She commands. "I still need you alive to close these portals!"

I growl under my breath but nevertheless follow her, my thoughts steadily darken as I try to figure out the next best way to even the scores.