Read Online Two Halves Series by Marta Szemik - Free Book Online Page B

anyway, with my sister.” I smirked.
     Aseret didn’t flinch. His usual expressionless face gave a sardonic smile.  Xela’s apologetic eyes glossed over.
    “You told him,” I whispered, fear suddenly creeping into my body. Aseret was expecting Mira to come. I was fine here, without her, but having Mira bound to the wall with magic ropes again—or worse—was the last thing I wanted. Our element of surprise was gone. I looked at Xela, who lowered her head.
    “Good, two for the prrrice of one. What do you sssay we greet your family properrrly?”
    “What do you want, Aseret?” I said flatly.
    “Xanderrr, I can give you everything. All thisss,” he waved his hand around the room full of eager orange pupils, “can be yourrrsss. And mossst of all, she can be yours asss well.”
    I didn’t want everything he offered, only Xela. “How?”
    “Let me marrrk you.”
    “It needs to be 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,