Page 74 of Barbi and the Villain

“So we’re going to Aperion?”

“No.” He chuckles. “I would never be allowed to step foot in Aperion. But a few thousand years ago, I heard rumors of one artifact being hidden in a different part of the universe.” He pauses. “In Akkaya.”

“Oh.” I blink.

“There are fifteen royal Houses in Aperion. Each House has a Temple and a High Priestess who is in charge of the protection of its artifact, except for the House of Moirai and the House of Psyche who share one artifact. Soon after Tartareia was sealed off, the High Priestess from the House of Ananke disappeared, together with the artifact.”

“So we’re looking for this High Priestess?”

He nods.

“I don’t have the exact location, but I have a few clues. The problem now is that Damien has those clues, too,” he adds, his expression tense.

“Wait. Is Damien from Tartareia, too?”

“In a manner of speaking. He is not the same kind as me, but he is…similar.”

“I don’t understand.” I frown.

“My kind is born this way, with these abilities and increased lifespan. We require blood to keep our energy flow constant. But there is another way to gain similar abilities.” He pauses as he takes a deep breath. “The blood bond between two mates is not the only type of bond there is.”

“What do you mean?” I frown.

“A Son of Tenebreis may use his blood to turn a person into his thrall. This usually happens with corrupted spirits that have the capacity for destruction but no guidance for it. Damien was such a spirit at one point, before a Son of Tenebreis converted him into what he is now—a high-level demon. Although our abilities are similar, there is also a difference. High-level demons do not feed on blood. They only feed on energy. Souls,” he adds grimly.

“He eats souls?” I repeat in a low voice.

A shiver goes down my back.

Damien was a demon. I sat and ate at the same table as a demon.

Good Lord! I was almost sacrificed by a demon!

“Souls are the purest energy in the universe. Why do you think there is a rumor about me causing that plague to use the energy of the souls to heal?” He raises a brow.

“But…” I falter as I put two and two together. “Oh my God! Does that mean that Damien caused the plague? And he is the one consuming the souls?”

He nods.

“It is the most plausible explanation.”

“But a plague? Couldn’t he just, I don’t know, eat one or two souls? Why does he need so many? Half the population of Akkaya is gone!”

His mouth pulls into a tight grimace.

“Because that is the nature of a thrall demon. In the beginning, one soul can provide nourishment for a long time. But as these demons use their powers more and more, they need to feed constantly. By my calculations, Damien should be close in age to me, which suggests he needs a high volume of souls to operate at an optimal capacity.”

“How old are we talking about?” I dare to ask.

“Time flows differently here, but in Tartareian age, I am thirteen thousand five hundred and nine years.”

I gawk at him.

Thirteen thousand…

“I am twenty-one,” I whisper.

“I did not ask for your age, human, nor do I care about it.”

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