Page 145 of Summoned
I am already nothing but pure energy, the magic of the Black Joker—no body, no soul, no heart. Yet the fake promise of Nicole is both the bait and the blaze that lures me in. And the only force driving me forward.
The road to Hell is one-way. Unfortunately, it’s the only place where I can amplify my power enough to destroy Madeline. It will burn me alive, but I’ll take her with me.
The first touch of the flame burns me like Nicole’s kiss. I crave more, so I allow it to draw me into its embrace…
That’s when something grabs me and rips me away from the bliss. I resist, but it’s stronger, dragging me back to the castle I had just said goodbye to.
My magic merges with my drifting soul as they both pierce the body buried beneath the earth. My heartbeat restores. I register the surroundings through the searing pressure behind my eyelids. Madeline and the harvests hover like a storm cloud above my grave, but even they can’t drown out the life that courses through my limbs the moment I see Nicole. She is the light in Death’s cold shadow.
My gaze roams over her face, streaked with dirt and tears, and her bloody hands caked with mud. She dragged me back into my body before the harvesting was complete. I hadn’t even known it was possible to stop a harvest that’s begun. Yet Madeline’s words proved otherwise. What the witch doesn’tknow? None of it was planned.
When I emerge from the grave, hope sparks in Nicole’s expression. I brace myself, forcing my body upright, my soul heavy with sorrow. I want to promise her everything will be all right. I won’t be. In my current state, I’m too weak.
“Finish the harvest, Gaetano!” Madeline says.
With legs like lead, I rise and pull Nicole under my arm. The gesture’s meant to shield her, but in truth, she’s the only thing holding me upright. She tucks into my side, bearing the weight of my crumbling frame.
Madeline’s fingers twitch. “Enough, Gaetano. We both know you’re incapable of love. Your only passion has ever been magic.”
I draw Nicole closer, and she presses into me.
Of course, Madeline notices. “If you’re doing this to punish me for the curse—fine. You’ve succeeded. The only reason I haven’t torn her limb from limb is that if I did, you wouldn’t complete your final harvest. And I want you back, Gaetano. The bed’s not the same without you.”
Nicole stiffens under my arm.
“Don’t listen to her,” I whisper into her ear.
Madeline takes a step toward us, glaring at Nicole. “You might be his toy, but he’smine. Has he told you what perversions he performed just to please me? So I’d let him fuck me in the basement chamber? He ached to touch my power, to feel real magic. The kind he never had the blood to claim.”
A knot tightens in my gut. Some of those memories still remind me of how potent her magic was. And she’s right. I was willing to lick the dirt off her boots for a taste of power. And now I’m willing again—but to save Nicole.
I take a breath and pull my arm away from her. The chill between us slices through me, and I force the next words past the lump in my throat. “You know me well, Madeline. Betterthan I’d like to admit. You’re right. I staged this entire grand finale to provoke you.”
What I’m about to do is risky. There’s a reason I rejected this plan before. Now, it’s the only option left.
I clench my jaw and add, “I’ll come back to you. But on one condition. Let her leave. I’ll finish the harvest with another soul. After that, I’m all yours.”
“Gaetano, no!” Nicole’s eyes widen with horror. I avert my gaze to prevent myself from unraveling under the weight of her emotion. I pray she doesn’t say anything else, that she doesn’t challenge Madeline.
Madeline fixes her attention on me. “Why do you want to save her?”
I throw a dismissive gesture at Nicole. “Because in five centuries, I’ve never encountered a more desperate creature. She was willing to kill people, not to save herself, but for love. It never even occurred to her that a witcher like me could never truly be with a mortal like her. But you know how it is: ‘Love clouds your judgment, dulls your senses, steals from your magic.’”
My heart darkens with each word, yet I don’t allow myself to look at Nicole. Any sign of emotion on my face could ruin this. And my Baroness is clever; she’ll realize I’m putting on a show and that she needs to play along.
Madeline watches her like a cockroach crawling across her floor, deciding whether to crush it or let it go. One corner of her mouth twitches in disdain. “And why should her stupidity be a reason to grant her life?”
Tension creeps up my spine. “She disgusts me,” I say, “but I also pity her. Besides, is there a worse punishment than living with the knowledge that you helped send ten people to their deaths for someone who doesn’t give a fuck about you?”
Madeline shakes her head. “I can’t tell—are you an altruist,or just cruel? Either way, I pity that woman. Mortals never cease to amaze me with their delusions of importance. Every sheep in the flock thinks it’s more special than the others.” She directs her attention to Nicole, arching an eyebrow in quiet triumph, her voice a velvet blade: “The wolf doesn’t fall in love with the sheep, darling. It only eats them.”
This time, I can’t help but look. I see the moment her words reach Nicole, settle in her mind, and change her expression. Her eyebrows knit together.Please,don’t break, my Baroness.Her hand drops to her thigh… and pauses on the sheath of the dagger.
My knees almost give out. It’s the dagger I took from my first harvest—with Madeline’s blessing. If she recognizes it…
So far, the witch hasn’t noticed it. Maybe she won’t realize—
Her eyes follow Nicole’s fingers… And land on the blade.
