Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 581(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 581(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
“Lilith brought the contract and pens for us to sign. She was particularly elated, almost high, very flushed, her eyes overbright, and she kept telling us to read the contract, that she was certain we would be happy with the terms. She ordered two of the demons to get my mother and bring her to the arena immediately. It bothered us that we were to meet her in the arena rather than in one of the rooms. It was very hot, more so than usual, and it was difficult to breathe the air down there.”
Vasilisa took the chance of looking around the arena to note as much detail as possible in his memory. There were drums beating, a rhythm that was pervasive, and demons sat in the stands humming a deep low note to accompany the drum. Low embers lit the arena in various places, and they would suddenly flare up in a dark red fan of flames and then subside again. When the flames were at their height, Vasilisa saw distorted faces with teeth and claws and red glowing eyes. They disappeared into the darkness as the flames settled.
“I smelled the cannibals. She had them hidden in the darkness, waiting until the negotiations were over so they could rush out and tear at my parents when she took me out of there. We had known all along that was the plan. She sometimes would douse the air with drugs, and it was difficult to tell reality from fantasy at first. I learned, but it took time—time my parents didn’t have.”
That persistent drumbeat was giving her a headache. It felt as if someone were trying to get inside her head, but she knew she was feeling his physical pain. The knocking persisted determinedly. She refused to allow her heart rate to increase. She sat across from him, breathing evenly, watching both places, present and past, just as obstinate as Lilith, maybe even more so.
You can’t have him, she whispered in her mind. She could afford to have that conversation with herself. Her shields were up, and no one, not even her lifemate, had penetrated them. If she wanted to tell Lilith to go to hell, she could. There might be some irony in that.
“She kept dancing around, trying to keep us distracted. When the demons brought my mother, it was clear she was already dying. Lilith pretended great sympathy. She berated the demons who brought her. My father went over to my mother and carried her to where we were reading the contract. It was the only spot where there was any light, a single sconce with a weak candle flickering.”
Vasilisa’s heart went out to Afanasiv. She saw the condition his mother was in with the skin torn from her body. There was little left of her. Still, she looked at her husband and son with love in her eyes.
“My father whispered to her, told her he loved her, told her the plan. She looked at me, and I could see she didn’t want me to stay there. She tried to shake her head, but she was too weak even for that. I knelt beside her, the contract in my hand—the only way I had to keep Lilith from having the cannibals rush them—and told her I loved her.”
There was emotion in his voice. So much it shook her. Tore her up inside. Vasilisa refused to give in to emotion. She needed to make sure that she didn’t miss anything significant in either the past or present.
“She drew her last breath and I signed the document. The moment I signed, I felt the difference. A hush fell over the arena.”
What he said was true, other than the drumbeat. That continued. It didn’t pause for a single moment. Vasilisa felt the expectation in the arena. The mad triumph of Lilith. The sorrow pouring off Afanasiv. His father had gathered his mother into his arms, cradling her on his lap. He threw back his head and roared his anguish to the world. As he did, Afanasiv slammed his fist into his father’s chest and extracted his heart. He turned and threw it straight into the nearest flames.
The heart was pure and the flames were not. The fire leapt and spread, rushing throughout the arena in an ever-widening circle, burning through rows of demons, burning white-hot and pure until it reached Afanasiv’s parents. The flames caught them up and incinerated them, taking them in seconds so there was nothing left, not even ashes.
Red blood tears tracked down Afanasiv’s face. He looked at his lifemate. “That is what really happened to my father and mother that night. He never would have turned. Never.”
“No, he wouldn’t have, Siv,” she agreed, because she was certain he wouldn’t have. “But he knew those cannibals would have eaten him alive, and Lilith would have made you watch. You spared him watching his beloved wife being eaten after all the tortures they’d subjected her to. Your father managed to slay demons, most likely many of the ones who had tortured his wife. You spared him horrendous suffering. This was his plan, and you carried it out at great cost to yourself. You did what a loving son was asked to do without hesitation. It’s what you always do, Afanasiv. You sacrifice yourself over and over for others. Has she ever tried to convince you there is a child?”