Page 96 of Fate and Fury

Elena’s pink-tinted lips rose in a sneer. “He’s right here, of course,” she said, gesturing to the empty space on her left. “Right beside me, where he belongs. What, can you not see him, Katerina?”

Katerina stared at the spot Elena indicated. There was a shimmer to the air, a vaguely man-sized shape that wavered, flickering in the breeze from the open window. “But—how?—”

“He’s mine now,” Elena said, gloating. “I see his true form. If you cannot, then perhaps you should accept what you should have known all along. He was never meant for you.”

Katerina strained, trying to will the shimmer into being. And then she saw it, fractured by the shards of glass that clung to the edge of the window frame behind him: her Shadow’s transparent shape. For an instant, she caught an unmistakable glimpse of Niko’s face, his eyes wide with shock and misery. His lips moved, trying desperately to say something, but there was no sound. A moment later, he winked out of existence again.

What had Elenadoneto him?

The Vila was laughing now, a self-satisfied sound that Katerina wanted to smack right out of her throat. “I will kill you,” she told Elena, her voice cold. “I’ll take what remains of your cursed existence, and free my Shadow from your clutches.”

“This is not why I brought you here—” Sammael began, just as Elena’s laughter cut off. She glared at Katerina.

“You can’t hurt me,” the Vila said. “You’ve already done your worst, and I’m invulnerable now. It’s too bad the same can’t be said for you.” A chilling, self-satisfied smile lifted her lips. “I wanted nothing more than to hunt you down and end you like the murderer you are. Yet here you are, coming to me, sparing me the trouble. Make no mistake: I’ll be the one to take your life.”

To the Saints with whatever agreement Katerina had made with Sammael. Seizing the fading remnants of her power, she harnessed the wind. The front door flew open and she lunged at Elena, her witchfire surging up to devour the cottage and the Vila with it. She would vanquish Elena and her demon, save her Shadow, and flee.

Her blade was inches from Elena’s throat when the Vila snapped her fingers. Again in dog form, Sammael growled and leapt through the fire, knocking the blade aside and pinning Katerina to the ground. She fought and thrashed, but couldn’t move him: He was no ordinary dog, and had no ordinary mistress. And even fueled by rage, Katerina was half of what she’d been. Her magic slipped through her fingers, draining away.

The dog bared his teeth, crushing Katerina into the floorboards. Her lungs heaved, straining for breath, as rain called by her power blew through the empty window frame, drenching both of them. Above her, the demon beast growled in warning.

Elena’s voice came toward her, drifting on the rain-soaked breeze. “On second thought, I don’t think I’ll kill you so quickly. You should suffer, the way my Niko did, and pay for your crimes. I’ll chain you here, next to him. Every day, I’ll take another piece of you. You’ll weep while I watch and take pleasure in your pain. For I am Elena-of-the-Void, beloved of Sammael, Queen of Darkness, and you are at my mercy.”

There was a flash of light above Katerina, and then the weight of the black dog was gone. Sammael was himself again, standing and brushing bits of glass from his clothes. “Come now, my Vila,” he said, his tone cajoling. “Is there really a need for this? Here, the Dimi is as helpless as a babe. You are the one with all of the advantages. What could it hurt to hear her out?”

“I want,” Elena said, her tone glacial, “nothing to do with anything she has to say, unless it’s to beg me for clemency. I think I’d like hearing that, quite a lot.”

Katerina sat up, struggling to catch her breath. The storm outside had died down, and no wonder. When she felt for her magic, all that stirred was a weak echo of her usual power. She had been foolish to use so much of it attacking a creature that could heal whatever wounds she made, in a place where such a creature had, as Sammael pointed out, the high ground.

Think, Katerina.Baba Petrova’s voice sounded in her head.You cannot use your magic. You cannot use force. What is left to you?

She got to her feet, surveying the room. Elena stood by the table, fastidiously righting the teacups that Katerina’s assault had knocked over. Next to her, Niko’s transparent form glimmered and guttered, his eyes fixed on the Vila in fury and his lips moving in silent protest. Sammael drummed his fingers on the back of the settee, Katerina’s blade in his free hand. The clock above the mantel ticked.

Think, Katerina.

The duplicate of Kalach. The wedding dress. The china.

“You cannot walk above ground,” Katerina blurted.

Elena’s eyes flashed to hers, a hint of vulnerability in their depths. “What?”

“Bonding with Sammael prevented you from being devoured by the Void,” Katerina said, certainty thrumming through every word. “But it didn’t eradicate my curse completely. You’re not just here”—she waved at the cottage—“because Niko is dead and you sold your soul to a demon. You’re here because you can’t leave. That’s why Sammael recreated Kalach for you…because you can never go home again.”

The Vila flinched. “That is none of your business,” she said.

“Niko is my business.” Katerina took one step closer to her Shadow’s trembling image, then another. “The Darkness that threatens us all is my business. As it should be yours.”

“The Darkness is no longer my problem,” Elena said, but her gaze fixed on Sammael, and Katerina could hear an inkling of doubt in her voice.

“Elena,” Sammael said, sounding tired, “I have told you and told you that it is.”

Elena smoothed her bloodied wedding dress, the gesture both fastidious and petulant. “She wishes to steal my Shadow from me. She must die, as she should have died in the clearing.”

“Is that all you have to say?” Katerina heaved an exasperated sigh. “She must die. She should suffer. She will weep while I watch.Wake up, Elena! We’re all in danger of extinction, demons and humans alike. You’ll kill me, and then what? Take away the best chance of vanquishing the Darkness? You’ll have a few glorious days of satisfaction, before you get sucked into the Void, just like you would’ve been if Sammael hadn’t rescued you.”

Elena glared at her. “What do you propose, then, Katerina?” She spat the name, as if it tasted rotten in her mouth. “I can hardly wait to hear.”

Katerina drew a sharp, shuddering breath. She had always been a gambler, and never thought much of it. But now she was gambling for Niko’s life.

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