potion would let up. Anyone could walk right in at any time. Leith could come in. Leith…With some of that fuzziness gone from my head, the memories of what he’d done to me came through more sharply, and my fear grew-
No! I swiftly ordered myself not to think about any of that. Not Leith. Not overwhelming odds. I needed to think only of escape, and for that, I needed to start with small details.
I’d been good today-no bindings. And with the nightshade, no one felt the need to give me iron bracelets like the girls. That meant no blocking of my magic, short of the potion. Somehow, I doubted I’d have the power in six hours to blow this place up with a mini-hurricane. What did that leave me? Hopefully physical stamina…and with it…my shamanic powers?
Now the countdown began. The minutes were agony, particularly since I had no way to count them. At first, I just attempted general counting in my head, but that grew tedious. I had nothing to do but wait and gauge my own body’s recovery.
And recover it did. Oh, I was a long way from being able to kick anyone’s ass, but my wits grew a little clearer. Standing and moving didn’t hurt much either. Finally, I decided it was now or never. I had to take my gamble. Maybe it was well before the six hours, but I couldn’t risk going over.
It would have been easier with my wand, candles, and other accoutrements. What I had to do wasn’t impossible, though. I turned off the lights, plunging me into darkness, and sat on the bed cross-legged.
“Volusian,” I said softly. “By the ties that bind, I summon you to come to me and obey my commands.”
Weak as I was, I felt my will go out, stretching beyond the worlds to my minion. At first, I thought it was useless-then, I felt it. The slightest twitching of our bond. I gritted my teeth, drawing all the strength I could. “I summon you,” I growled. “Obey me and come.”
For a moment, I thought I’d failed. Then, a coldness filled the room, and red eyes burned before me. Seeing them in the blackness was too scary, and I stumbled up to turn the lights back on.
“My mistress returns,” he said. “Or rather, I return to my mistress.”
I didn’t need to see the slight curling of the spirit’s lips to know my hold on him was tenuous. It was like a fragile string of silk, ready to snap at any moment. Bringing him here, through those worlds, had sapped more of me than I thought imaginable. I still held him, but for the first time in the years I’d enslaved him, the full realization of just how powerful-and dangerous-he was hit me.
“I have tasks for you,” I said sternly. I could show no weakness.
He took a few steps toward me. “My mistress is bold to say so. You can barely maintain the bond between us as it is.”
“I can hold this bond until the end of time. Now, you will obey me.”
And almost before I saw what was happening, his clawed hands were around my neck-cold, cold. So cold that they burned.
“I have waited for this for so long,” he hissed. “So long for you to weaken so that I may finally kill you and make you suffer the way you have tormented me these years, enslaving me and sending me to do your menial errands.”
I couldn’t even manage a scream, not with the way his hands were cutting off my air. I could only manage something that was half-grunt and half-gasp. Desperately, desperately, I fought him mentally. I was one of the most powerful shamans in the world. I could control wayward spirits. I could enslave them easily. I’d once had a host of them. I could fight this.
“You will feel pain like you have never dreamed possible,” he continued. “You will beg for death, beg for dismemberment…for even that would be easier than the agony I will inflict on you.”
Everyone had warned me so many times about keeping Volusian. What if your control slips? they had all asked. Dorian had even offered to help banish him to the Underworld for good. I had laughed the worries off. I was strong. Even after a battle like I’d had with the fire demons, maintaining that link to Volusian was practically subconscious. But now…now, this was different.
“You are losing it-the bonds are nearly broken. In a few heartbeats, your control will be gone….”
No! I couldn’t speak a response, but the words in my mind burned. I would not lose this. I would not lose control of him. Wrenching up the last scraps of my strength was like ripping my own heart out. You will obey me! Back off!
The world started to sparkle as my air grew less and less, and then-he did back off.
His eyes blazed with malice. He’d been so, so close, and we both knew it. My control now was still a tenuous thing, and I had to hope I would recover my strength soon and solidify my grasp.
“You will obey me,” I said in a thin voice. “You will not harm me.”
“As my mistress commands.” But I could tell from his voice that he didn’t believe this would last, that he was biding his time.
Meanwhile, I was running out of time to decide what to do, not only because I didn’t know if he’d break free again but also because Abigail could be here at any moment. My initial instinct was to tell him to simply get me out of here. But if that command took the last of my strength, he could easily kill me once we were out. And even if I made it out, what about the girls? I couldn’t rescue them on my own. How long until Markelle disappeared?
No, I needed to kick Volusian out of the house. If I didn’t summon him back, those wards would keep me safe. I needed to send him for help, and that choice had to be a wise one.
“Leave this house. Go to Dorian,” I said. I drew upon that fleeting strength of mine to enforce the order. “I command you. Go to Dorian and tell him where I’m at. Exactly where I’m at.”
I could have sent him to Kiyo. Kiyo knew where this house was. But if the effort of these commands was enough to finally shatter my hold on Volusian, Dorian might be able to bind him back. It would be better than Volusian running loose. That, of course, depended on whether my order was strong enough to even get Volusian to Dorian to deliver the message. My first command had been to get Volusian out of the house and keep me behind the wards. If that was all I could manage, Volusian would no longer be bound to obey. He has to, I thought desperately. He has to get to Dorian….
“Go!” I ordered harshly.
“As you command.”
Volusian vanished, eyes narrowed, confident our bond was about to break. As soon as he was gone, I fell onto the bed, nearly ready to pass out. Would it work? Or had I just broken the last fragments of our bond? I was too afraid to reach out and test the link. I didn’t have the strength.
The door suddenly unlocked. Nightshade time. With a sickening thought, I realized that if it was the original kind, I would almost certainly lose that control of Volusian. If it was Markelle’s decoy, I could hold onto my strength.
Abigail entered, a cup in hand and Markelle in her wake. The gentry girl’s eyes were down, her whole posture meek. I bit my lip at their approach, waiting to see what my future held.
Chapter Twenty-Four
It tasted as bitter as always, but as I drank, Markelle lifted her eyes. There was nothing obvious in them, no wink, no expectation. Yet, somehow, I knew. I knew. It was the fake again.
Satisfied that I’d swallowed it all, Abigail gave me a withering glance. “We need you cleaned up. That fool is coming for you again later tonight, and he did a number on that dress last time. He wants you looking good, though, so…” She gave a half-hearted shrug. Naturally, I couldn’t tell her that my dress’s rumpled and slightly torn state had nothing to do with Leith’s sexual aggression, but, rather, an angry spirit bent on killing me.
Markelle’s eyes were downcast once more. “Should I get her a new dress?”
“No. You’ve got to clean up too. Art’s going to be here in a little while for you.”
The girl flinched, but Abigail didn’t seem to notice. But then, why would she? She didn’t notice any of these girls, not really. And I knew what those words meant. Markelle’s time had come. “I’ll send in that freckled one, once she wakes up again.”
I realized that she was me and that I should allegedly be going under. I sank back against the covers, blinking like I was trying to stay awake. The two of them left, Markelle giving me one last fleeting glance. There were a lot of things in her wide eyes as she looked at me. Fear. Hope. Anxiety.
