Page 66 of Summoned
21
Gaetano
When one senses the beginning of addiction, the best move is to step back before the craving takes hold. That’s exactly what I should have done the moment I felt the quiet thrill that started to accompany every meeting with Nicole. Each encounter left a residue of anticipation, and instead of extinguishing the spark, I let it grow. Had I stayed focused, she never would have had the chance to catch me off guard.
I don’t know who told her about curare, but that toxin is one of the few capable of bringing an immortal creature to their knees. Even now, the memory of her expression—steady, unflinching, as she stabbed me—unsettles me more than the pain did. There was no fear in her, only defiance.
I shouldbe hunting her down, making sure she understands who controls the stakes. But instead, I find myself wanting more of that fire.
Now that all my magic is restored, I conjure a portal and step into her room. The curtains are drawn, blocking out the moonlight. She’s curled up beneath the satin sheets, her copper hair fanned out above the covers. Her steady breathing is the only sound.
Remaining invisible in the dark, I lean over her. The dark magic thrums at my core, reminding me of the sole reason for my existence. Harvest after harvest, until I collect three hundred of them.
My blood ignites with a vicious energy that flows through my skin and spills out. Without taking my eyes off Harvest 290, I summon all the lesser creatures of the night. Fromthe corners of the room, beneath the door, and between the cracks in the floor, insects crawl forward. They pour out in a black tide. Spiders with swollen bellies shivering and weaving thin threads across the floor, beetles with shiny wings squeezing through the window gaps and buzzing in the air, long-legged centipedes slithering between the floorboards.
The insects flood the room, dark magic pulsing around them, stirring the shadows on the walls. In an instant, the spiders will swarm the bed, beetles will scatter around her with a sinister hum, and the centipedes will crawl up to wriggle through her hair.
My entertainment will be in the fear they will cause her. And the fuel that’ll give me.She’ll scream and thrash the insects off her skin, and panic—
Hesitation makes me flinch. Would shereallypanic? Or would she simply rise and brush them off, knowing she’s the bigger predator, with no reason to fear the lesser ones? It wouldn’t be her first time surprising me.
I steer the insects to the corners, as my thoughts drift back to the field, following Nicole’s attack. How many souls can keep their head high when they’ve been stripped down, a blade pressed to their chest?
A memory surfaces. One I’d prefer to forget, yet it forces its way back and makes my heart race.
After a few years of staying at Madeline’s court, her attention shifted more and more toward me. When I first arrived, she had many lovers. Soon, she started dismissing them at night, choosing instead to spend the dark hours with me. I could feel her growing attached to me, just as I was becoming tethered to her magic and to the lessons she fed me. And to her, somehow. I wasn’t in love, but shehad become my closest friend, lover, and master. I had begun to trust her, the way I believedshetrusted me, for she whispered secrets in my ear that no one else was meant to know.
The previous night had been an ordeal. Too much wine, dancing that spiraled into magic, and sex that left me gutted. I’d collapsed beside her like a dead man, every limb heavy with exhaustion. But when I woke, the warmth of her body was gone, and I was tied to a stone slab—the kind used in ancient rites. My wrists chafed against the restraints, and the damp air of the underground chamber clung to my naked skin like a warning. The worst part? My magic was gone.
I was still a young creature, just beginning to master the craft, and had no grasp of what was unfolding. Only later would I learn of a dark spell that could block a witcher’s power—andmuchlater, I’d become strong enough so no one could do it to me again.
But in that moment, I was powerless.
The scrape of her heels echoed through the chamber. When Madeline emerged from the shadows, her eyes gleamed with cold delight.
I struggled against the chains binding my limbs. “Madeline, what have you done to me?”
She circled the stone slab with slow steps, then she stopped by my side, leaned in, and let her syrup-sweet voice spill into my ear, “You humiliated me, Gaetano. Last night, you spent hours dancing with another. Trailing your fingers down her waist? Fucking her in the doorway? Letting her put her filthy hands on your body?”
Yes, I’d fucked another. For the first time. Madeline had never claimed exclusivity, so I didn’t think my actions warranted such a dramatic reaction.
She turned her head to the shadows. “Come!”
Figures stepped into the torchlight. Witches and witchers of our court, whose gazes swept over my naked body. Some showed fear; others, satisfaction. Madeline’s favor always stirred envy.
I’d never been ashamed of nudity. But this—laid bare like an offering on an altar, devoid of any magic—twisted my gut with a shame I didn’t know I could feel.Struggling to keep my voice steady, I said, “Untie me, Madeline.”
Madeline drew a blade from the folds of her gown and pressed it to my sternum, forcing a sharp breath from my lungs. The tip of the knife pierced my skin. Warmth spread across my chest in a thin line.
“You gave your body to another. Now I’ll take it back, piece by piece.”
My panic surged the moment the blade slithered down to my pelvis, tracing slow circles around the most vulnerable parts of me.
I frown, forcing the memory back into its cage. I never dwell on the details. But yes, I begged and apologized. Said whatever she needed to hear. If feigning weakness was the only way out, I’d do it. And it worked. I escaped without serious damage, aside from a few scars on my thighs, long since covered with runes.
Even if it was an act of survival, it didn’t sting any less. Humiliation clung to my skin like dirt. They all witnessed me, stripped of pride; her plaything.
If I wanted to make sure it never happened again, I had to grow stronger. Much stronger. And Madeline was the most powerful witch I knew. So, I stayed and learned from her.
