When Raphael got back to the palace courtyard he noticed that most of the people had left the area. The king and princess were out of sight and the only person still there was Zane holding the body of his sister. A knot formed in the pit of Raphael’s stomach, but he pushed it down. It was necessary, he argued. It had to be done.
“Zane, I’m so sorry,” Raphael said as he knelt down next to him.
“It’s all my fault. I should have saved her, but I was too late. I was too late,” Zane sobbed. He kept her body close to him, protectively cradling her against him.
Raphael looked up at the heavens above for strength for what he was about to do. All he could keep telling himself was that it was necessary. They needed to see her die. “Zane, you need rest and time to grieve. Continuing to stare at her body isn’t going to help you. Let me take her. I promise she will come to no further harm. I will organize her funeral as well, should you wish it.”
Zane was reluctant, but he nodded and handed her, ever so gently, to Raphael. “Promise that you’ll see to it that she gets a proper burial, and not one of those they reserve for sorcerers and witches?” he asked, emotion thick in his voice, as he kissed her on the forehead.
Raphael nodded. “I promise.”
Sparing one last glance at his sister, Zane walked away. Raphael tried to keep his emotions at bay, but it was hard knowing he had been the cause of Zane’s grief. He could easily have teleported himself, Andreas and Zane to the palace in time to ‘save’ her, but that would have ruined everything. Instead he made sure that they arrived just in time to see her die. It was cruel of him, but it was a necessary cruelty in this case.
“Raphael, I have come to collect,” a haunting voice called out, chilling him to his core.
He had been hoping that Almahalc had been lying and that he would be able to avoid having to pay for the words of the prophecy. Setting Lana down, he turned to the seer reluctantly, knowing what sight he would have to face. The empty sockets dripping with black liquid… the muddy appearance that made it hard to tell if he was even wearing clothes… the stiches where his mouth should have been, dripping with blood.
Raphael closed his eyes before he could take in the sight, and then reluctantly opened them when Almahalc said nothing. Sure enough, there stood the seer, in all his gore. “A man of your word, it seems.”
The seer’s stiches pulled in what appeared to be a smile, more blood dripping down his chin. “The question was never whether or not I would keep my word, young warlock, but rather if you would keep yours.”
Raphael raised his eyebrows in a challenge. “I said I would pay whatever it was you asked for the information I sought. Now tell me, old man, what is it you wanted that had to wait for this moment?”
The stiches pulled up even higher, causing no doubt that he was smirking. Raphael fought down his gag reflex and forced his attention to the seer’s eyes. “What I want is to be young and attractive once more. I didn’t use to be this repulsive being you see before you. And I have foreseen only one way that could happen, through that girl laying back there. She is the only one that will restore me to my former glory.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“For her to restore me, she needs to stop caring about the one she currently loves. She needs to see him for what he truly is, a monster.”
“I still don’t see how this is related to me.”
“You will make her see the light. Make her fall in love with you, or someone else. I don’t care. Just make her hate Andreas Scott Grigoli. That is the only future in which she can help me.”
“How does her hatred of him help you?”
“In order for the spell to work, her heart has to be empty. Succeed, and your debt will be paid. Fail and the blood curse will be upon you.”
Raphael gazed back at Lana, still barely recognizable as the beautiful girl with the strong opinions. “Why should I make any bargain? You still haven’t told me the name of the girl in the prophecy. Your information was useless!”
Almahalc’s eyes turned white and he let out a laugh. “It’s not this girl, if that was what you were wondering. You still haven’t found her, Raphael. But you will. You will. Remember my price. And remember I’ll only be patient for so long…” his voice trailed off and he disappeared. Raphael cursed under his breath. Paying back the seer went against everything he believed.
What was worse though, was that the seer disconfirmed his biggest hope. Lana wasn’t the girl from the prophecy. That meant that he had staged the girl’s death for no reason. It meant that Andreas actually loved her and it had nothing to do with the force of destiny. He scooped the girl into his arms. Perhaps she would not solve his dark-sorcerer problem, but that didn’t mean he could let her go. He now needed her to help him pay back the seer, but the mere thought sent waves of revulsion through his body. He needed to break her heart, or steal it.
“I’m so sorry, Lana,” he whispered and then waved his hand over her, washing away the glamour spell he had Eric put on her. Her wounds disappeared and her hair grew back to its lustrous length. Her dress was still torn, but he could fix that later.
“Time to get you out of here.”
***
Andreas was left gasping on the crystal cove’s floor. All the fight had drained from him. He had wanted to kill the princess when she refused his bargain. And he would have too, were it not for Raphael. He couldn’t decide if he should be thankful or extremely pissed off.
His muscles were weak, his magic waning. The crystals were taking away his power, taking away his identity. But he didn’t care. He was nothing. Everything he cared about was gone. He was once again alone in the world without anyone he loved or cared about.
“AHHH!” he screamed, tears rolling from his eyes as he tossed a loose piece of crystal as far away from him as the cave allowed.
Lana was gone. All his fears were realized. He knew this would happen if he allowed himself to get close to her. He knew he would lose her. He wasn’t allowed to be happy or to care about anyone. He wasn’t allowed to have someone who cared about him. The universe didn’t want him to have anything good in his life. All he was allowed was misery and nothing else.
“WHAT ELSE CAN YOU TAKE FROM ME?” Andreas yelled, all his walls crumbling down. The minute he had let her in, she was gone. He had been stupid. So stupid. He even tried to be better, for her. And now even that was for nothing.
He lied down on the rough floor of the cove, his heart hardening. Lana was the last one. She was the last person he would ever care about. He would never make this mistake again. If there was anything he could do to avoid this kind of pain again, he would do it. There was only so much heartache one man could take before there was no light left inside. He was very close to that point, the point of no return.
It was said that any man can be redeemed as long as there was a sliver of light left somewhere inside them, no matter how deeply it was hidden. Andreas once believed that, and it had turned out to be true. But he could feel that light dying inside him. This time, leaving an even smaller flame in his wake. And while no one was ever purely dark in this world, Andreas knew he was dangerously close to being the first.
The universe had better hope that he never found his way out of the cave, because when he did, all hell would break loose. All the lines he previously wouldn’t cross, were now blurred with the tears he had been holding in for too long.
YOU ARE READING
A Necessary Evil (Book 1)
Fantasy**One can be evil, and still have a good heart, just as one can be good but still have a heart tainted by evil.** "There was an undeniable comfort and stability in a stable future, at having every detail of your life meticulously planned out. But ev...
