Page 9 of Consume Me
That is our bargain.
I hesitate, hating myself for even considering this. Just because the daggers consider someone their enemy doesn’t mean that person has done something to warrant death. Nor do I want to be the hand that deals it. But to be free… to have my life back. And maybe even change my own fate, stop my own death. It’s a temptation I can’t resist.
The fact that I’ll have to do this at a party full of other supernaturals is definitely a downside. I have a fleeting thought about some other poor soul being chosen in my place once I’m free. The daggers binding themselves to an innocent. I should refuse this bargain, protect others from suffering my same curse. But when I open my mouth, the words that come out are: “I accept.”
The daggers purr.
And just like that, I seal a bargain with the darkness.
Chapter 4
Kendall
“You’re really doing this?” Natalia asks, holding up the plain silver gown I’ve selected with two fingers like it has personally offended her. “Vaelora’s masquerade meat market?”
She shoved her way into the apartment ten minutes ago and already seemed to know I was up to something. Stupid witchy senses. It took her all of five seconds to spot the invitation on the counter.
“I didn’t say I was excited about it.”
She lifts a brow, letting the dress fall back to the bed where I’ve laid it out next to another one—a red number with a slit up the side. It’s a size too big for me, but these are all I’ve got in terms of formalwear. “You didn’t say you weren’t coerced into it either.”
I busy myself with the tea I’m pouring, not ready to look her in the eye. “Funny you say that because they, uh, offered me a deal.”
Natalia lowers the second dress slowly, her full attention on me. “That’s not alarming at all. Do tell—what didthe bloodthirsty ancient murder blades whisper to you this time?”
I exhale through my nose, forcing the words out. “They said… If I go to the party and kill someone for them, they’ll let me go.”
Natalia, who never misses a beat, simply blinks. Finally, she says, “You realize that entire place will be crawling with witnesses.”
“I can be discreet.”
“And if you can’t?” I don’t answer, and she snorts. “So, they’ll let you go once you’re wanted for murder. How gracious of them.”
I glare at the daggers, who are whispering their own colorful opinion on Natalia’s reaction.
“Please tell me you didn’t agree,” she adds. My gaze snaps back to Natalia’s, and apparently, my guilt is evident because she groans. “Have I taught you nothing?”
“You taught me everything,” I rush to tell her.
“Clearly not enough.” Her disapproval is written all over her face, and my shoulders sag.
“I’mdesperate, Nat.”
Her gaze softens. Only by several tiny centimeters, but I’ve learned to read her after so many years. It’s enough to make me admit how bad it’s gotten, something I’ve refused to do out loud until now.
“I can’t control the visions when they come. And I can’t account for the time I’m under their control. Three days ago, the visions came on as I was stocking shelves, but when I came out of it, I was standing in the street. I have no idea how long I was out of it or what I did during that time.”
“You have to fight them,” Nat hisses, determination glinting.
I swallow hard. “I’m trying. Do you know I buried them in the hills outside the city the other night?”
She blinks, the only hint of her surprise. “I’m guessing the attempt failed?”
“They were waiting for me on my pillow when I returned.”
She curses, glaring hotly at the blades. “I’ve burned through every contact I have, looking for information about these things, but there’s nothing. If we knew where they came from, how they were forged, and what sort of magic they possessed, maybe we could?—”
“We’re out of time for that,” I tell her. And even though we both know I’m right, her lack of protest threatens to undo me. “They’re smart,” I go on, uncaring if the damned things hear me. It’s not like I’m saying anything they don’t already know from living in my damn head. “But more than that, they’re patient. I don’t know how much longer I can resist before they start making all my decisions for me.”
