Queen of the Underworld | Book 3

• thirty-three •

//Song: Fickle Game - Amber Run

I spectered back to Leah's home after I spectered to five different places, just in case Asmo was following.

He might be an ally now but I didn't trust him. Not anymore, not like before.

Appearing in the upstairs hallway of Leah's home in the middle of the night kind of made the night's events feel less real.

I caught my reflection in the small mirror on the wall. My hair was still black. I willed a glamour and it turned silver again.

A glamour over my natural hair. It wasn't silver anymore.

How fickle my magic was. It kept swaying from light to dark. Or maybe it was starting to change with my mood.

I looked at my right hand, the one he shook for our bargain and remembered the energy that coursed through it. It wasn't as dark as the first time, in fact, it just felt different. Like magic was binding me to my word.

"You will come back twice a week for training but only when it's safe," he told me. "If Damien won't show you how to use your dark power to bend others to your will, I will. It's needed."

I had nodded numbly and watched him carve an apple in his hands with a knife.

He noticed, smiling. "You can't kill me to get out of this. The Styx won't let you kill the oath writer."

I looked away. I hadn't thought of that and I didn't think I ever would.

A small clatter sounded downstairs followed by Leah's cursing, breaking me from my thoughts. I had to face them at some point. Mustering my courage, I began to move towards the noise, knowing they would all be there waiting for me.

"Remember our terms," Asmo had said right before I left. "You cannot tell anyone our bargain, you can tell them I am your spy and that I can be trusted. Tell them what you've learned of the girl, what you've learned about yourself as well, if you want. But nothing more. Tell them you will be meeting with me to train but just the two of us alone, since they will not be able to specter to my home."

I stood frozen in place as he spoke. I didn't feel like myself. I felt dirty, full of misery and despair and I knew nothing I could do would change it. I was a failure. An utter and complete failure.

"And about Julian," he continued. "Begin to pull away, show him that you don't love him let him believe this comes from you. That you realized your mistake and that you don't want to be with him anymore."

I flinched at his words, they cut through me.

He approached with a smile that I wanted to slap away from his face.

"You're a monster," I repeated. "I hate you."

He chuckled. "How close love and hate are."

I shook my head. "I will make you miserable," I promised. "Every day of our sorry lives, I will make you regret this."

He smiled again, his eyes moved to my exposed neck and arms. There was hunger there. Real hunger. Desperation. Gods, why hadn't I seen it before? They warned me. Time and time again they warned me. "You don't know how patient I am."

"You're sick," I said instead. "You're sick and depraved and obsessed with me."

His eyes burned through me as he stared at me in place. "I was lenient on you before but I won't make that mistake again. You're mine, Emylin. Mine. And in time, everyone else will know it too."

As soon as I appeared in Leah's kitchen, I heard a collective sigh of relief. They all sat at the breakfast table together, sharing conversation. I was surprised. Leah managed to keep them calm and at the house while I was gone. They hadn't gone to the Underworld searching high and low for me.