Page 88 of Fate and Fury

If there was one thing Katerina couldn’t abide, it was mockery. “There is a prophecy,” she said stiffly. “Well known among our kind. It says that if a Dimi and Shadow fall in love, it will bring about the end of Iriska. It will doom us all.”

At this, the demon’s smile began to widen. And then he was laughing, a cold sound that echoed off the walls of Katerina’s cottage. He laughed so hard he doubled over, his hands on his knees.

Katerina fought the desire to cross the circle and plunge a knife into his chest. “Will youshut up?”she hissed at him. “If we’re caught here, the Saints only know what they will do to me. And they will most definitely killyou.”

Sammael’s laughter cut off, as if sliced through with the very blade with which Katerina had wanted to impale him. When he straightened, the mirth had vanished from his face. “They can try,” he said, and bared his teeth at her.

She ignored him. “Explain yourself,” she said, endeavoring to keep her voice level, not to reveal how much the answer mattered to her. “What’s so funny?”

The demon waved a hand. “You humans and your foolish prophecies. Since the dawn of time, you have been fond of them,” he said, amusement once again lurking in the depths of his black eyes. “As if anything you could say—anything you coulddo—could unleash something like this.”

Katerina’s mind raced. Baba Petrova believed Katerina to be so powerful that her gifts had summoned the Darkness from the depths as a counterbalance. Had her existence created the opportunity for Gadreel to attack? Had it somehow strengthened the demon, given him the edge he needed to free the Darkness—and then her secret desire for Niko, their illicit love for each other, had tipped the balance? But if she were to blame…why would the Saints be helping her now? Would they not wish to strike her down, instead?

“You are a powerful witch, Dimi Ivanova,” the demon said, his voice smoke-rough, as if he had read her thoughts. “I mean no insult to your gifts. But what is happening now…it takes a prince of Darkness to bring it about. Much as I detest Gadreel, he is a formidable agent of the Dark. You and Niko Alekhin’s dalliances, however much they might mean to you and your ways—they are not responsible for this.”

Katerina tried to leash the joy that flooded her at his words, but she must have done a poor job, because the demon smiled. It was a terrible sight. “I see I have alleviated your worries. Truly, your village blames you for all that has befallen the realm? They must believe you to be omnipotent indeed.”

She stared at Sammael, assessing him. Everyone knew demons lied. But what would he gain from this falsehood? If he was telling the truth, though, what was the significance of the prophecy? Was it possible, as he implied, that it meantnothing?Was it just words in a dusty book, as Niko had often said? Or did it mean something else entirely?The Dark will fall. The shadow will rise.Could it be?—

“You are pondering something,” the demon said. He stood as close to the boundary of the circle as he could, his eyes fixed on her face. “Let me give you more to consider. As I’ve said, in three nights the false Bone Moon will rise. Brought about as it is by the growing strength of the Darkness, it will create…how would you think of it? A two-way portal, let us say. Then and only then will a Dimi of the Light be able to make her way to the Underworld. Then and only then will an enslaved spirit of the Dark be able to leave.”

Ice shot through Katerina’s veins, as deadly as the plague that had cursed their fields. It was all she’d wanted—to find Niko, to set him free. But her plan, such as it was, had depended on stealth. To descend into the depths of Hell with the full knowledge of a demon…to do so on his invitation…she could think of few things more dangerous. Or more terrifying.

“You would open the way for me?” Her magic gathered around her, a protective shroud, so heavy she could feel its weight on her skin. “What do you want in return?”

The demon staggered back a step, as if even through the circle, the press of the Light pained him. His lips set in a thin, disapproving line. “I am doing nothing to damage you, Dimi Ivanova. You have already trapped me in this damnable circle. Was there really a need for that?”

Her magic swelled, a storm cloud shot through with lightning. Sparks gathered at her fingertips. A wind of her ownmaking blew, lifting her hair and flaring the flames in her hearth. “Answer my question.”

“I told you,” the demon said, examining his shirt cuffs as if nothing more fascinating existed in all the world. “You are stronger with your Shadow. Gadreel is shortsighted. He believes if he captures you and forces you to do his bidding, you will be strong enough to hold back the Dark. But I know better. I’ve heard tales of what you and Niko Alekhin can do. Gadreel fears that the two of you, together, would defeat him…and perhaps you would. ButIfear that without your rightful Shadow, you do not stand a chance of driving the Darkness back into the Void.” He tugged the bottom of his shirt straight, as if he were on his way to a fine affair rather than trapped in Katerina’s circle. “Of course, then you can defeat Gadreel once and for all. It is a mutually beneficial arrangement.”

The invisible presence beside her grew stronger. It was no longer comforting, no longer lending her strength. Now, it was filled with warning. If the Saints were trying to tell her something, Katerina would do her best to listen.

“You lie.” Katerina held his dark eyes with her own. “I think you covet Elena Lisova, demon. You claimed her. You trained her. You cannot stand that she believes she loves another. You want him gone, so you can have her to yourself.”

The demon’s lips drew back from his teeth, and he hissed at her like the snake she knew him to be. “He is a dog. I can offer her everything, and yet she chooses to cavort with a beast. She was mine. She will be mine again.”

In his eyes shone nothing but madness and greed. This was his true nature, the devil behind the carefully cultivated façade. But it didn’t frighten Katerina. On the contrary, relief swept over her. They understood each other at last.

Elena was his vulnerability, as Niko was hers. For the sake of whatever twisted emotions Sammael felt for her, he woulddo anything—just as Katerina would do anything to save her Shadow. Yes, he was driven to defeat Gadreel and drive back the Darkness. But that was strategy; this was passion. It was a chink in his armor, and she intended to exploit it.

“Go on, then, demon,” she said, and offered him a small, satisfied smile. “I’m listening.”

52

KATERINA

“You didwhat?” Ana stared at Katerina, aghast. “How could you?”

“Keep your voice down!” They were in the bedroom of her cottage, with the windows and doors shut tight. Still, anyone could walk by, and with Katerina under so much suspicion, they frequentlydid.Last night, she’d been woken from a restless sleep by the thud of rocks against her bedroom’s shutters, followed by a whispered, “Shadow-killer!” If the knowledge that she’d made a pact with a demon left this room, she was done for.

“Who do you think is going to hear me? The kikimora?” Ana stomped over to Katerina’s dressing table and sank onto the stool in front of it, regarding the burnt outline of a Klyuchi rune that was just visible beneath the bed. “Why would you do this? How did you even know how? Surely there wasn’t a book in the library, just lying around…”

“No,” Katerina said, leaning back against her bed. “No library.”

“Then what? Did one of those beasts force their way in here? Are you being coerced? Or possessed?” Ana’s witchfire flared ather fingertips, prepared to incinerate anything demonic in its path.

“I summoned it. If you would listen for a moment, I’ll explain.”

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