Page 87 of Fate and Fury

She regarded him, puzzled. “You mean because the Reaping?—”

He shook his head impatiently. “I care nothing for your foolish human games. Surely you see that the duplicate Bone Moon is rising, thinning the veil between your realm and the Underworld once more. It is…a chance. An opportunity. Once, and once only, will this door be open to us. If you want to see your Shadow again, you will listen to what I have to say.”

Torn, Katerina tilted her head, taking his measure. He stared back at her, motionless in her circle of runes.

She thought of everything she had already lost. Of the Reaping, just three days away. Of Niko, condemned to suffer at the hands of a woman who had been devoured by the Dark. And she knew if she didn’t do everything in her power to save him, she would never forgive herself.

“Speak, then,” she told the demon.

“First,”Sammael began, sitting cross-legged inside the circle, “there is the matter of the Darkness that devoured Drezna and Satvala.”

Katerina tilted her head, eyes intent on his face. “What about it?”

He ran a hand through his close-cropped hair. “At first, I thought it was a tool of Gadreel’s. That his power had grown exponentially. But then I came to realize the truth. Gadreel did set the Darkness free, thinking he could use it to bolster his strength. But he got more than he had ever bargained for. It was…hungry. And he could not control it.”

A shudder ran through Katerina. “You mean—it’s acting independently of him? Of any of you?”

Sammael nodded gravely. “It is sentient, in some way. Although all it wants is to devour. I believe this is why Gadreel desires you so badly. He needs a powerful partner in the Light to drive it back into the Void. To chain it, once again.”

Horror bubbled inside her, and she drew her knees up, gripping them. “If I don’t help him, then what will happen?”

“We will all die,” Sammael said simply. “Demon, Dimi, Shadow, Vila, and non-magical human alike. For the Underworld is fueled by souls, and if the Darkness takes them all…”

His voice trailed off, but he didn’t need to finish speaking. Katerina understood.

“I won’t be his puppet,” she said, her voice tight. “Not as Elena is yours. If he had me that way, he would never let me go.”

A strange look flashed across the demon’s face, as if the notion of manipulating Elena that way was…offensive to him. Was that possible? Could demons want anything other than to possess and destroy?

But Katerina didn’t have time to contemplate it, because the demon was speaking again. “I understand that. I also know how much stronger you are with your rightful Shadow by your side. Whoever your nobleman chooses to bind you to, it will never be as strong as the one you had with Niko Alekhin. And until you are bonded to another, the bond you have with Shadow Alekhin still remains, in some form.”

Katerina’s brows knitted. “You know a great deal about Shadows and Dimis, demon. Perhaps too much.”

“I have lived for many years.” He waved a hand, dismissing this. “You want your Shadow back. I want him gone from the Underworld. You want Gadreel to leave you alone. I want him punished for what he’s done. And most importantly, we bothwant the Darkness banished, lest it take our lives and destroy everything we’ve sought to protect. Let us strike a bargain.”

The idea that Katerina might somehow be able to get Nikobackhad never occurred to her. The most she’d dared to pray for was that she could set his soul free and help him be at peace. She leaned forward, trying not to let her hope show on her face. “Get him back, how? Alive, or just his shade? And why do you want him gone from the Underworld?”

That odd look flickered across the demon’s face again. “I told you. If he is restored to you, in whatever form, then he can fight by your side. Together, you can defeat Gadreel and drive the Darkness back into the Void, where it belongs. I will help you, in secret, so your fellow witches and your nobleman never have to know you allied yourself with a demon. Your reputation will be safe, your Shadow will be returned to you, and the Darkness will be secured once more. And I will take my rightful place as ruler of all the demon realms, as I should have long ago.”

Katerina couldn’t have cared less about the rivalry between Gadreel and Sammael. What shedidcare about was this: if the demon wasn’t lying, he was handing her the key to saving Iriska. To restoring her reputation. And, just maybe, to rescuing her Shadow. It was more than she’d dreamed was possible. But?—

She dug her nails into her palms. “Are you saying thatGadreelis responsible for the Darkness that’s devouring Iriska? The failure of the crops, Niko’s death, Nadia and Oriel’s disappearance, the fall of Satvala and Drezna…all of it is due to him and him alone?”

The demon’s eyes widened the smallest bit, as if she had surprised him. “What else could be the cause of it?”

Katerina’s heart found its way into her throat, choking her. She tried to speak, but all that came out was a croak.

If Gadreel was responsible—if his greedy, foolish actions had summoned the Darkness—then was it possible that Katerinawasn’t to blame? That the crushing weight she’d been carrying, the conviction that her very existence compromised everything she vowed to protect, wasn’t hers to bear? She gasped for breath, struggling to find words.

Sammael approached the edge of the circle, peering at her curiously. “Are you quite well, Dimi Ivanova? If only you would release me, I might be able to lend assistance.”

The demon was inches from her, separated only by the magical barrier that bound him. He looked, she realized, like her dark mirror: same red hair, same ink-black eyes. Had he chosen this form on purpose, to antagonize her?

It was that thought, more than anything else, that allowed her to find her voice. “I’m fine,” she managed, lifting her chin. Again she felt that strange presence beside her, the sense of a hand on her shoulder, centering her. Sant Antoniya, perhaps? Could it be?

She had prayed for aid. Perhaps it had arrived.

“I beg to differ,” the demon said, cocking his head. He looked…amused. “Tell me. What do you believe is responsible for this mayhem, if not Gadreel’s regrettable, impulsive behavior?”

---