Read Online Marked: A Two Halves Novella by Marta Szemik - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Marta Szemik
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my choice.”
“Isn’t she yourrr choice?” he mocked.
“Let her go. She doesn’t mean anything to me,” I lied.
“Is that true, Xela?” Aseret hissed.
She lifted her chin. In her eyes, I saw regret, then
something new—a spark of hate glittering around the rims of her pupils. I wasn’t
sure whether the hate came from Xela, or from Aseret. It was the first time I’d
seen it. She stood so close to the pit, I thought the black lace of her skirt
would melt from the heat of the fire.
“No,” she answered in a firmer tone than her usual. My ears
perked at the change I detected in her voice, careless and ungraceful.
“Xander, you’re not the firssst shifter she’s used her body
to sssway to the underworld.” Aseret nodded toward the demons I’d recognized
earlier. All concentrated their lustful gazes on Xela. They’d been lured to the
underworld in the same way I had—through my black witch’s lair.
The lump in my throat thickened. My jaw tensed, and I felt
it lock into place.
“Don’t listen to him. You were different,” she claimed, but
the hate and fear I saw in her eyes betrayed her words, as if what she’d wanted
to say was manipulated by an unseen force while she fought against a power I
couldn’t see.
“Of course he wasss.” Aseret laughed. “He fell for you
quicker than the othersss. Why don’t we let him sssee your true beauty?”
Xela’s head fell forward in helpless submission. Aseret
lifted his clawed hand and made a show of tasting a drop of red liquid on the
tip of his finger. I sniffed. It was Xela’s blood.
“Akhana mur til blano kina fom,” he chanted. The foreign
words released a two-toned stream of cold blue light flowing toward Xela.
The iced flame hovered over her before sinking lower to
touch her head, then it flowed back up, lingering. Blue flickers of the flame
connected to her hair. I’d seen several kinds of magic before, but none this
powerful.
“What are you doing to her?” I asked in a broken voice that
betrayed me. The drop of hope left in my heart urged me to run and sweep her in
my arms, but my instinct kept me away.
Xela lifted her head. Hatred intensified the glow of her
eyes.
“You thought you knew herrr!” A gurgle bubbled from the back
of his throat as he threw his head back and cackled. The seekers and demons
joined in his delight, their yelping echoing through the grand hall like a pack
of hunting wolves.
I looked at Xela again, and the glowing hatred held a spark
of death. The soul I knew was dying. My shoulders dropped, and I felt my heart
disappear along with hers as if it chose to be locked up, gone from this world.
Aseret owned the key that would keep Xela’s spirit locked away. I wanted to
scream, but my eyes concentrated on the magic brewing over my witch’s head.
The flame defrosted, flowing down Xela’s body like water,
streaming over her curves, each ribbon changing her appearance. The flame first
caressed her, then savagely reshaped the flesh. Her body shook with seizures. I
wanted to shut my eyes but couldn’t. The trembling stopped, her dark locks
meshed in webs twined with debris, her hazel eyes sunken in gray hollows, her body
coated in dirt and scum. Soon, the hourglass figure replaced with a lump for a
body. She no longer looked like my black witch. There was nothing about her I
would have loved. Even the heart I thought I knew began beating differently,
the rhythm strangling each pulse.
“What did you do to her?” I squeezed the words between my
grinding teeth, my hands clenched into fists.
“Thisss is who she isss, Xander. The only way to have herrr
back isss to join me.”
“Turn her back, and I’ll join you,” I blurted.
“Come forrrward,” Aseret ordered.
The hall fell silent. I saw no one except Aseret. His eyes
rolled back in their sockets as he chanted again. The pull inside my body
returned.
Aseret’s voice resonated in my head: “Join the underworld
and you will have everrrything you’ve ever
“Isn’t she yourrr choice?” he mocked.
“Let her go. She doesn’t mean anything to me,” I lied.
“Is that true, Xela?” Aseret hissed.
She lifted her chin. In her eyes, I saw regret, then
something new—a spark of hate glittering around the rims of her pupils. I wasn’t
sure whether the hate came from Xela, or from Aseret. It was the first time I’d
seen it. She stood so close to the pit, I thought the black lace of her skirt
would melt from the heat of the fire.
“No,” she answered in a firmer tone than her usual. My ears
perked at the change I detected in her voice, careless and ungraceful.
“Xander, you’re not the firssst shifter she’s used her body
to sssway to the underworld.” Aseret nodded toward the demons I’d recognized
earlier. All concentrated their lustful gazes on Xela. They’d been lured to the
underworld in the same way I had—through my black witch’s lair.
The lump in my throat thickened. My jaw tensed, and I felt
it lock into place.
“Don’t listen to him. You were different,” she claimed, but
the hate and fear I saw in her eyes betrayed her words, as if what she’d wanted
to say was manipulated by an unseen force while she fought against a power I
couldn’t see.
“Of course he wasss.” Aseret laughed. “He fell for you
quicker than the othersss. Why don’t we let him sssee your true beauty?”
Xela’s head fell forward in helpless submission. Aseret
lifted his clawed hand and made a show of tasting a drop of red liquid on the
tip of his finger. I sniffed. It was Xela’s blood.
“Akhana mur til blano kina fom,” he chanted. The foreign
words released a two-toned stream of cold blue light flowing toward Xela.
The iced flame hovered over her before sinking lower to
touch her head, then it flowed back up, lingering. Blue flickers of the flame
connected to her hair. I’d seen several kinds of magic before, but none this
powerful.
“What are you doing to her?” I asked in a broken voice that
betrayed me. The drop of hope left in my heart urged me to run and sweep her in
my arms, but my instinct kept me away.
Xela lifted her head. Hatred intensified the glow of her
eyes.
“You thought you knew herrr!” A gurgle bubbled from the back
of his throat as he threw his head back and cackled. The seekers and demons
joined in his delight, their yelping echoing through the grand hall like a pack
of hunting wolves.
I looked at Xela again, and the glowing hatred held a spark
of death. The soul I knew was dying. My shoulders dropped, and I felt my heart
disappear along with hers as if it chose to be locked up, gone from this world.
Aseret owned the key that would keep Xela’s spirit locked away. I wanted to
scream, but my eyes concentrated on the magic brewing over my witch’s head.
The flame defrosted, flowing down Xela’s body like water,
streaming over her curves, each ribbon changing her appearance. The flame first
caressed her, then savagely reshaped the flesh. Her body shook with seizures. I
wanted to shut my eyes but couldn’t. The trembling stopped, her dark locks
meshed in webs twined with debris, her hazel eyes sunken in gray hollows, her body
coated in dirt and scum. Soon, the hourglass figure replaced with a lump for a
body. She no longer looked like my black witch. There was nothing about her I
would have loved. Even the heart I thought I knew began beating differently,
the rhythm strangling each pulse.
“What did you do to her?” I squeezed the words between my
grinding teeth, my hands clenched into fists.
“Thisss is who she isss, Xander. The only way to have herrr
back isss to join me.”
“Turn her back, and I’ll join you,” I blurted.
“Come forrrward,” Aseret ordered.
The hall fell silent. I saw no one except Aseret. His eyes
rolled back in their sockets as he chanted again. The pull inside my body
returned.
Aseret’s voice resonated in my head: “Join the underworld
and you will have everrrything you’ve ever
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