Page 17 of Heartsick
I’d heard of the spell before. It required a lot of magic though and was terribly draining to do. Should you need something quickly from a prison of flesh you would find yourself exhausted, which was not helpful if you were in battle. Perhaps, King Ganglin was more powerful than I was giving him credit for. Maybe he spent his time practicing instead of drinking.
You’re an idiot, Dace.
Idiot.
Idiot.
Idiot.
It’s all YOUR FAULT.
I blinked with each internally screamed thought and regret.
“So, why have you come here then?” I pulled myself into the conversation. Turning my eyes from the witch, I picked up the knife and dragged it over my skin again. Fresh pain to help drown out the overpowering thoughts. “Why,” my voice rose, “did you kill my parents?”
The corner of her mouth ticked up into a small smile. “I begged to kill your parents.”
Any amusement I had for this snarky bitch witch quickly faded along with most of my sense. My muscles acted quicker than the thought to stop myself registered. The knife spun through the air, stopping as it stuck into the wall, Geeta’s ear pinned under it.
Her shrill scream wasn’t nearly as satisfying as I wanted it to be. Huffing out a breath, I wiped my hand against the smooth rim of the glass and set it aside.
“Care to elaborate?” My voice dripped with venom. A subtle warning.
Jesseline tucked her dirty blonde hair away behind her ear, her fingers skimming along the same flesh that I had just pierced on Geeta. Black blood ran down the wall in a thin line from her wound.
“I was tired of being a pet,” she spat. Her eyes widened into black mirrors that reflected my own hatred. “I offered to kill whomever he wanted out of his way. Your family was just first on the list. I can’t go back; I’d rather you killed me now.”
“It would be my pleasure, but I have use of you first.” I stood. Floorboards creaked under me. The hilt of the knife was still warm when I pulled it from her ear and the wall. Geeta grunted as it slipped from her skin. “Did King Ganglin use you to place curses?”
“Yes.”
“Would the effects of a curse include abnormally aggressive behavior and black oozing fog?” I didn’t bother to wipe the blood from the knife as I handed it back to Jesseline. She frowned but took it from my hands without a word. The blood streaked across her cloak as she used it as a rag. It would leave a terrible stain, I was sure.
“So you’ve seen the effects of my work then?” she purred roughly. Perhaps she was torn between hunger, pain, and the bliss of seeing me wildly unhappy.
“I’m going to need you to undo it.”
“Not possible. You can’t undo a curse once it’s been done unless the spell is created with a loophole in place. I didn’t put any loopholes in this work.”
“What can we do then? How do we get him back to normal?”
Her shackles rattled as she leaned forward, staring right at me. “There isn’t anything you can do for him. His soul is black now, and the only thing that can fix him is death.”
Well, that’s not what I wanted to hear.
Fuck.
I stood, shaking my head. “You’re lying. You have to be lying.”
“Why would I lie to you?” Geeta smiled, but then looked from me to the glass hungrily.
“You’re lying!” I yelled and stomped away from her to the door. My fingers itched to do something bad. To do something harmful. There was truth in this witch, I just needed to get it out of her. Killing her wouldn’t do it.
“Dace,” Jesseline warned. “Maybe we should try this again another day. When you’re in your right mind.
“I haven't got a right mind,” I roared, swiveling to face Jesseline. “This is it. This is me. And I’m fucking angry.”
“Maybe you should take some time to yourself for a while,” Jesseline pushed.