No matter what his feelings, he would never be the one for Katia. He’d seen it with his own eyes, though nobody else would have noticed. Sergei was attuned to auras and what he’d seen had made his heart drop to his shoes. The bright gold aura around Katia had constantly been stretching toward Luc, no matter where they were in the room, or how far apart they’d been. Luc’s slightly muddy aura had similarly been drawn toward Katia as though they were connected on some cosmic level that couldn’t be denied. Sergei had noticed it at the café where Luc had sat watching them, but the effect was more pronounced now. No getting around it, she was lost to him forever.
He heaved another sigh and closed his eyes. It figured he’d fall for the one woman that was meant for someone else; the one woman he might have been able to tell about his family; the one woman who might have understood. Then again, now that they knew what she was, it would probably have been a doomed relationship anyhow. He was mortal, a witch, but still mortal with a mortal’s short years. Katia was immortal, she would never age and never die. No matter what their personal situation was, Sergei did know one thing — he would do whatever he could to help. They’d been friends for too long for him to turn his back on her now. She may be hurt that he had hidden the truth which was understandable, but Sergei knew her better than anyone. One day she would forgive him and they would be friends again, no doubt in his mind. That thought did serve to lighten his dark mood. Better to have her in his life as a friend than not at all.
Throwing his arm over his eyes to block out the sunlight streaming in from the floor-to-ceiling window, Sergei settled more comfortably into the couch for a nap. It didn’t take long for him to start feeling the pull of sleep.
A scream ripped out of Sergei’s throat as he woke to find a knife protruding from his side. Glowing red eyes paired with a menacing smile full of pointed teeth floated in front of his face. Gleeful evil laughter rang through the living room. Sergei struggled to sit up, to move away, anything to distance himself from the sound of that laughter. He was unable to move, paralyzed from the neck down.
“Good evening, my new playmate.” Sergei squinted through the pain, trying to get a better look at the intruder. Blue skin, red eyes, and a forked tail. Demon, definitely a demon, he thought. The pain in his side was starting to spread, along with wet warmth, as his blood leaked out around the knife that was still embedded to the hilt.
“Who are you?” Sergei wheezed as he struggled to slow his breathing.
“My name matters not.” The demon replied as he tested the sharpness of a blade on the tip of a finger. Sliding his eyes over to look at his coffee table, Sergei saw an array of his own kitchen knives lined up as though the intruder was a surgeon preparing to operate. So this was it, Sergei thought, this was how it was going to end.
“What do you want?” Sergei asked, dreading the answer.
The demon turned toward him, serrated knife in hand. “Information, my playmate. You will tell me where the girl and the dirty angel are and I may let you live.”
“And if I don’t?”
Thin red lips pulled back in a mockery of a smile revealing those horrifying teeth once more. A forked tongue snaked out trailing mucous over dry lips. “You will die a most painful death.”
“Why can’t I move?” Sergei asked, trying to keep the demon talking. Whatever this was, magic or poison, maybe it would wear off so he could escape. Likely just wishful thinking, but there were no other options.
“A special treat of my own making…the nightshade is quite effective, yes? You cannot move but can still feel the pain.” The demon said as he leaned closer, twirling the knife in his hand. “Enough of the preliminaries, don’t you think? Where is the girl, Sergei?”
“I don’t know,” Sergei answered truthfully. He hadn’t been told the location where Katia and Luc would be spending the next day or so, nobody new aside from Amir.
“Such a shame,” The demon replied, his sick smile belied his words. Reaching down, he ripped open Sergei’s shirt exposing his chest and stomach. Licking his lips again in anticipation, he lowered the knife point and slid it into Sergei’s skin. With a quick jerk of his arm, the demon slit him open from navel to sternum. Sergei screamed, the demon to laugh gleefully. Blood ran freely down Sergei’s sides, soaking into the couch and dripping onto the hardwood floor. He began to babble as hot tears of pain cascaded down his face. “I don’t know where they are, I really don’t. Nobody does. I’m not useful to you, I don’t know…I don’t know.”
Wiping the knife on Sergei’s pants, the demon stared at him, red eyes boring into his soul. “That may well be, but you are a witch, are you not? You can locate her, yes?”
Sobbing, Sergei replied quietly, “I won’t do it. You might as well kill me.”
Those piercing eyes bored down into Sergei like twin lasers. Anger and frustration seemed to roll off the demon in waves. “That can certainly be arranged,” the demon hissed. “But I will be having my fun with you first.” The demon raised his hand up in front of Sergei and he watched in horror as the nails elongated into the sharpest talons he had ever seen. Without any warning, the demon clawed Sergei across the face, opening deep gashes from his forehead
