Page 98 of Devil's Deal

I have a pretty good idea about what happened. Since I beheld everything my zmora was, the power, the cruelty, and her unflinching drive, I know I’d rather be dead than lose her. She is everything that makes me strong and keeps me going. It looks like Czeslawa’s zmora was a source of strength for her, too.

With it gone, she’s a husk.

She sits at my table, throwing around scattered, unfocused looks. She frowns, makes to say something, and frowns again. I smile pleasantly, waiting for a barb or an insult and knowing none will come.

Like me, Czeslawa was fueled by ambition and rivalry, I see it now. Even more, she was driven by pettiness and greed, and with all that gone, she’s lost.

I know there are people out there whose power lies in other sources. Ida is driven by vanity. Darobor, by duty. People like that would probably be unable to create a zmora, and if they did, they wouldn’t lose the primary force driving them if it died.

There is a warning in this for me, too. I might be tempted to call on my zmora in the future, but I cannot risk losing her.

“Do you take milk with your chicory brew?” I ask and pour Czeslawa a splash when she nods distractedly.

When I urge her to eat, she looks uncomprehendingly at her plate and picks at the cheese. I add the lack of appetite to my mental list of the signs.

“So, Czeslawa,” I speak pleasantly after I eat a few bites and she’s merely pushing the food around with her spoon. “You visited me the last three nights. Do you remember?”

She looks up, staring at me for a few blinks, and finally nods.

“I came in when you slept,” she says, her voice dull. “I knew you were the one who cursed my face and destroyed my shed. So I came in to punish you.”

I nod. She speaks with no feeling, no hate.

“Did you know I was to blame or did you only suspect?”

She blinks a few times and brings the cup to her lips but doesn’t drink. “I knew. You left blood on the thorns.”

I frown but it comes back to me at once. Yes, the thorns Czeslawa scattered on her path. One pricked my sole, and apparently, that’s how I was discovered. I tuck that information away for the future. It might come in handy.

“So you knew what you were doing? With the zmora?”

Her lips move, and she nods slowly. “I was going to kill you. You’re a witch and you’re taking my clients. You deserve to die.”

Her face scrunches up, an echo of anger flashing in her eyes, but when she blinks, it’s lost and she looks puzzled again.

“Is that why you dug out the bone protecting my cottage from the werewolf? Because you thought I deserved to die?” I ask, my voice betraying no anger, only curiosity.

But the anger is there, boiling just under the surface. My zmora stirs within me, sharpening her claws. Knowing she’s there brings me comfort.

Czeslawa looks at her plate and clasps her hands together, then unclasps them. Her eyes are vacant when she looks up.

“No. You humiliated me and questioned my authority. I was going to prove you wrong.”

I’m too shocked to react with anger, so I just snort with a surprised laugh. “You wanted me to die, torn to shreds by a werewolf, because I made you look bad?” I ask.

Wiosna growls, muttering obscenities under Czeslawa’s address. My mentor is clearly on my side with this one.

“You are a witch.” Defensiveness echoes in Czeslawa’s voice, but it’s still much too dull to sound normal. “You steal my clients, make them think they can get away with paying less, and you do foul, black magic to get ahead.”

And with that, I have had enough. The legs of my stool scrape hard when I push it back, standing. Without hesitation, I reach over the table and grab her throat, just like my zmora did last night. Fear flashes in Czeslawa’s eyes, and she grips my fingers but doesn’t struggle.

She can still breathe, albeit with effort. It’s hard to choke someone one-handedly, even though my zmora made it look so effortless.

I don’t care to choke Czeslawa, though. I just want her to hurt.

“You greedy old hag,” I hiss, my rage boiling too hot to contain anymore. “Your clients came to me because you cheated them! You gave them faulty cures to keep them paying more. You weren’t threatened by witchcraft but by my competence. As soon as I started serving proper medicine, you knew your ruse would fail. And that’s why you wanted to kill me. So you could keep swindling people and grow plump on everything they paid you. You’re pathetic!”

I let go and stagger back, breathing hard. Czeslawa merely looks at me, blinking. An ugly, red flush spreads on her throat where I gripped her.

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