Page 48 of Curse of Immortality
Charles arched a brow and smiled.
“What’s so funny?” Maeve asked and crossed her arms.
“Are you saying that you want to be my apprentice and have me teach you everything I do?” His expression revealed how laughable he found the idea.
“No. I’m not here to be your apprentice. I want us to be equals.”
That statement made him laugh out loud, but there was no real amusement, simply ridicule at how insane her request was.
Maeve’s face, neck, and ears reddened as she waited for him to stop laughing at her. When he finally did, he lowered his head with a faint smile still resting on his lips. “What is your name, miss?”
“Maeve.”
“Let me be clear, Miss Maeve. You could never be my equal. I have dined with Cleopatra and advised Marcus Aurelius and Alexander the Great. You are nothing but a peasant girl in a fancy dress. Do you even know how to read and write?”
Narrowing her eyes, Maeve hissed, “Of course.” In reality her abilities were limited. Rose had taught them to read and write, but with the scarcity of books she hadn’t had a chance to practice much.
“I may not have your experience yet, but we are both immortals and I’ll catch up to you sooner if you teach me what you know. If I’m forced to live in a world with humans, then I want to live in comfort and luxury just like you do.”
He scoffed. “You’re not immortal.”
Tightening her folded arms, Maeve insisted, “Yes, I am.”
With his back to her, he made an icy remark. “If there’s one thing that I don’t tolerate, it’s lies. I almost feel bad about killing someone so defenseless, but you understand that I have to send a message to Zosia.”
“What are you talki…” Before Maeve had finished her sentence, Charles’ body changed. His eyes slithered into the long narrow pupils of a snake. His clothes disappeared just like his skin did. Maeve watched with large eyes as the man that had stood before her so confidently turned into the small form of an animal. She looked down at the black cobra before her and though she had never seen one before, her instincts warned her of danger. As the black king cobra slithered toward her on the floor, Maeve stepped backward.
She had never seen a Fader shift before, and it astounded her that Charles was now the king cobra rising from the floor. His yellow eyes were fixated on her and his split tongue came out in a sizzling sound that made goosebumps spread all over her body. Maeve’s throat tightened on instinct because every part of her dreaded the attack she knew was coming but didn’t have time to flee from.
It happened within seconds. Charles didn’t toy with her but went straight for the strike. Maeve screamed when his fangs sunk into her hand. Stumbling back, she fell to the floor and tried to shake the snake off her. When her rattled brain remembered that she wasn’t defenseless, she set the snake on fire.
That made him release her at once and as he fell to the ground engulfed in flames, Charles shifted back into his human body. He wasn’t burned but he looked shaken as he gaped at her.
“I bit you,” he said as if that should have been enough to finish her.
Maeve was angry and pushed at him with the same power that had hurled Althea through the market square back in Lerwick. Charles tumbled back and collided with the wall just above the mantelpiece. Falling to the floor, he groaned and got back up. This time, Maeve reached out her hand and suffocated him from a distance. With disbelief and confusion in his eyes, Charles waved his palms signaling for her to stop.
Releasing her grip on him, Maeve pushed him back once more.
“Who the hell are you?” The respect in his tone soothed Maeve. “And how are you still standing after I bit you?”
Looking down at her hand, Maeve saw the two bloody wounds from his bite up close. Raising her hand, she showed him. “A little bite won’t hurt me.”
Charles moved to stand in front of her again. In a hard movement, he reached for her hand and examined it before muttering, “It seems I underestimated you.”
Maeve tried to pull her hand back, but he held on a little longer and this time his gaze lifted to meet hers. Maeve was fascinated by Charles, who exuded such authority and confidence. He represented the kind of power she wanted for herself.
“Did Zosia do this to you? Did she find an antidote to my venom?” he asked.
Maeve scoffed and jerked her hand back again. This time Charles released it and narrowed his eyes as she hissed, “Unless you want to die a painful death, don’t mention her name.”
For a moment he just looked at her, but then he went to pick up his glass of whiskey and took a large sip before asking, “Indulge my curiosity, Miss Maeve. Explain to me what it is about Zosia that makes you despise her so.”
Maeve looked to the side. “She’s no better than the humans killing us Earthens. She might pretend to care, but she’s a selfish creature who had the chance to save my aunt yet chose to look the other way. It’s her fault we Earthens are in hiding because she has the power to rid the earth of humans, yet she chooses not to.” Maeve’s tone was dripping with spite and her eyes were glowing with the heat produced by the emotional furnace of unfairness that burned in her stomach
“If those are things you dislike about Zosia, then I’m afraid you’re going to loathe me as well, dear Maeve.” Charles emptied his glass and set it down. “I don’t like Zosia, nor do I like her Earthens. But she doesn’t deserve the credit you give her because it’s not her fault or doing that you are all in hiding. It’s mine,” he said with a proud glimmer in his eyes. “Witch trials started because of me. I designed the rumors, and it was my Faders who spread them to begin with. Of course, humans are more easily spooked than wild horses and it didn’t take much for them to run with the lies.” There was no trace of regret or empathy on his face as he spoke.
Fury rose in Maeve’s stomach from speaking of Zosia, and Charles’ use of an endearment felt belittling and threw her off a little. Quickly, she retorted. “You’re wrong,dear Charles. It may not be herdoing, but it is her fault that so many of us are hiding and being slaughtered when she has the power to rid the Earth of humans.”
