Page 98 of Fate and Fury

Katerina had never cursed anyone before, much less tried to undo such a binding. But she had given her word. And for Niko’s life, she had to try.

Praying she wasn’t making a terrible mistake, Katerina reached for the fraying tendrils of her power, drawing them up and through her soul, spilling Light into her fingertips. She forced herself to truly see Elena—not the damned woman who stood before her, but the aura that surrounded her, desecrated and stained.A hint of Light glimmered at its center, near where Elena’s heart might still beat. But the rest…it was a cold, cold thing, dark with gossamer threads of corruption, clouded with shadows. Through it, like chains of gilded iron, wound the silvery bindings of Katerina’s curse. They wrapped Elena from head to toe, passing through the floorboards and anchoring her to the earth beneath the cottage. They were a fearsome sight.

“Once, I cursed you, Elena-of-the-Void, now beloved of Sammael, vessel of the Darkness,” she said, imbuing each word with her diminishing power, praying it would be enough. “Cleaved to a demon, may your soul walk in chains.You bound yourself to Sammael, Venom of God, of your own free will. I can’t undo such a thing. But now I retract the curse I placed uponyou. May the ties that bind you loosen; may your spirit be set free. May you rise from the Underworld as you please, and walk among the living once more.”

Niko’s shade glanced desperately between Katerina and the Vila, shaking his head. He was speaking, a silent spill of words from which Katerina could only make outStopandKaterinaandDon’t.His hands rose, clutching his throat, as if to force the sound from it, but nothing came. Gritting his teeth, he tried to take a step toward Katerina. But his leg froze in midair, and then, as if an invisible chain reeled him backward, his foot sank down and he stood by Elena’s side once more. Frustration washed over his features, and his lips moved again, forming what Katerina was sure was a plea.

I’m so sorry, my Shadow,she thought, and wished he could hear.

Drawing a deep breath, Katerina focused not on Niko but on the cursed woman who stood beside him. The air in the cottage trembled and the floorboards strained beneath the Vila’s feet, as if the chains Katerina had visualized were real. She concentrated her waning strength, trying to break them, but the links held, as if soldered by Sant Antoniya herself.

Elena howled as the chains sank deeper into her ankles, wrapped tighter around her body in its iridescent, shimmering gown. She pressed one hand to her heart, where the tiny Light still burned. “What have you done? Make it stop!” she shrieked.

Grimly, Katerina fought to keep her promise, to unwind the chains of her curse from the Vila’s aura. But they were tangled too firmly, and the more Katerina struggled to loosen them, the more stubbornly they clung. It was as if a force beyond Katerina’s own will had placed them there. No matter what she did, she couldn’t set the Vila free.

She fell back at last, panting, exhausted. The world ran before her eyes in streamers of gray, and she had to grab for theback of the settee to keep from falling. As she watched, steadying herself, the chains loosened until they were as they had been before.

Elena ceased whimpering and turned accusatory eyes on her. “Nothing’s changed,” she said, pointing a finger at Katerina. “You didn’t keep our bargain!”

Katerina opened her mouth to tell the Vila that she’d done the best she could. But to her surprise, the demon got there first. “Dimi Ivanova did, indeed, try to lift the curse,” he said, and Katerina could’ve sworn she heard regret in his tone. “Alas, my Vila, the Darkness grips you too tightly to let you go.”

“Grips me too tightly?”Elena tugged at the lace that hemmed her wrists, as if it, rather than the Darkness, restrained her. “What do you mean?”

“He means,” Katerina said, “that your soul is far too corrupt, Elena. The Darkness has claimed you, and my curse merely adds to its power. This is where you belong. Perhaps the Saints themselves could free you; I cannot.” Her lips rose in a fierce smile. “Here you are, and here you’ll stay, in this foolish, pathetic replica of your cottage. Give me my Shadow, and say goodbye until six months hence. For you shall never go home again.”

Rage distorted Elena’s fine features. Her blue eyes glimmered, coal-black flames gleaming in their depths. “I’ll do no such thing! This is all your fault,” she snarled at Katerina. “You did this to me.”

“You did it to yourself,” Katerina retorted. “Youallied yourself with a demon.Youmade a devil’s bargain for the soul of my Shadow.Youtook my Shadow’s life and forced me to curse you to eternal Darkness, lest the corruption that claimed your soul devour all of Kalach.”

“He is not your Shadow!” Elena shrieked, so loudly that the glass of the remaining windowpanes shuddered. “He is mine! Now, always, and forever mine! And I’ll prove it to you.”

She stalked closer to Katerina, stopping a foot away. Darkness stirred in the depths of her eyes, a storm brewing beneath the surface of the sea.

“I may have made a pact with you,” Elena said, fitting one long-fingered hand around Niko’s neck like a collar. Katerina wanted to rip it from her wrist. “But you didn’t uphold your side of the bargain. I offer you one more chance, for I am a merciful Queen.”

Queen of what?Katerina wanted to say.Queen of this cottage? Long may you reign, broken wedding china, frayed wedding dress, and all.But by a miracle, she managed to hold her tongue.

“I bound my Shadow to me in death, as Baba Petrova bound him to you in life,” Elena said, greed coursing beneath the surface of her high, musical voice. “If you believe you still have a claim on him—that you can call him from my side—then I dare you to try, here in my realm where you have no power. Here, where I rule.”

Katerina’s breath caught. Could she do such a thing? Niko’s soul was, indeed, bound to Elena’s; the fact that he had disappeared with her into the portal when Katerina had banished Elena and the demons was irrefutable proof. Here, Elena shone and Katerina was the weak one. What if she couldn’t do what Elena demanded?

The Vila was scrutinizing Katerina, triumph burning bright in those infernal eyes. Steeling herself, she forced the familiar arrogance into her voice. “Ruleseems a bit of an exaggeration. This is Sammael’s realm, not yours. You’re merely a guest; you exist at his pleasure.” She regarded the Vila, nostrils flaring with scorn. “Remember, Elena, Niko chose me, above and beyond Baba’s bond. He’ll choose me again.”

The Vila hissed, an inhuman, serpent-like sound. The flames that flickered in her eyes flared higher, her irises swallowing thesclera, until they were nothing but blue fire. The walls of her cottage shuddered and wavered. “We’ll see about that.”

She tightened her grip on Niko’s throat, yanking his head down until the Shadow had no choice but to meet her eyes. “You aremine, Niko Alekhin. If you love me—if our love is true—then you will stay by my side. Show Katerina that your bond with her is broken. That you care more for me than you ever did for her.”

Niko’s image blinked out of existence once more. When it materialized again, Katerina could see the tendrils of corruption winding through it, the veins of Darkness threaded through his Light, as if Elena’s command had summoned them. Her stomach roiled at the sight.

“A fair fight, then,” Katerina said, forcing her voice not to betray the terror she felt. “If I win, you must agree to uphold the terms of our bargain. And ifyouwin, I’ll leave the Underworld, and Niko’s soul will be forfeit to the Dark.”

Elena’s eyes slid to Sammael, who hadn’t moved from the hearth. “It is a true bargain, my Vila,” he said, his voice devoid of expression, as if he too was trying to conceal the true nature of his feelings. “It is not the Dimi’s fault she could not free you from your bond with the Darkness. She acted in good faith.”

Elena scoffed, as if the very idea were ludicrous, then stepped forward and traced a rune in the air. Katerina recognized it from her bonding ceremony with Niko: the sigil for a promise made. Only here, it burned with the silver-blue flames of the damned. “I give my word,” she said. “If you win, then for six months of the year, Niko will walk above ground. If you lose, then he will stay here, with me, for eternity. I place my mark on it.”

Her word.Now Katerina was the one to scoff, for what was the word of such a creature worth? But she reached out and traced Elena’s rune with what remained of her own magic. Her hand trembled with the energy it took to pull the Light from the depths of her being. “I, too, give my word and place my mark.”

The runes flared together, one silver-blue with the flames of the inferno, the other red-gold with Light. For an instant, they blazed so brightly, Katerina was nearly blinded. And then, with a sucking sound that threatened to steal all the air from the room, they winked out, leaving the Vila and the Dimi facing each other. The transparent image of Niko’s shade stood by Elena’s side, laced with that ghastly Darkness.

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