“The water you conjured in Dare the Demon?” he cut in, raising his eyebrow. “I gave you my power. We did it together. I need you to be greater, but you’re nothing without me. You should be thanking me.”
Boaz raised his arms suddenly. At the exact same moment, my body jerked tight as if something had wrapped itself around my chest, and I gasped for air. Objects rose from the floor. Books, chairs, and papers lifted high and spun in a wide whirlwind throughout the room. My hair twisted and whipped across my face. I jumped when a stereo behind me turned on, blaring ‘Ode to Joy’.
Boaz waved his arms back and forth, leading the debris in a dark symphony of destruction. His combed-back hair flipped forward, falling across his forehead. Without warning, he slammed his arms forward against the desk. Everything crashed to the floor, and the music shut off.
“You look surprised,” he said. “You didn’t realize I was this powerful, did you? Not using magic was the hardest part about playing the role of the perfect man. It was extremely difficult being around you and feeling your dark energy. It was always there, just waiting for you to give it to me.”
“Then why? Why the elaborate scheming if you could’ve just taken it from me all along?”
Boaz straightened. “You have no idea how tiresome it can be to constantly force someone’s powers from them. It’s like trying to tame a lion. It can be done, but really, what kind of idiot does things the hard way when there are such easier methods? Besides, I like you, truly. It would be much more pleasurable for the both of us if you’d willingly work with me.”
I barely heard his words. I was such a fool!
Boaz looked over the notebook again and scanned its entries. “There’s still something I’m not sure about, though.” He opened his palm. A dagger from across the room flew directly into it. He turned the knife over, eyeing it carefully. “I know you’ve been through a lot in the last several hours, but I must know if it worked. Please stand up.”
“Why?”
“Just do it!” My body unwillingly jerked to an upright position. I tried to fight it, but his magic was too strong, making me feel even more stupid.
“This will hurt a little, but if my calculations are correct, the pain won’t last long.” He raised his arm and tossed the dagger at my stomach. I cried out when the knife lodged itself deep into my gut. I stared down at the dagger, shaking from the pain until I finally collapsed to my knees.
Boaz walked over to me and knelt down. With one hand on my shoulder and the other on the dagger, he pulled it out slowly. I fell over and rolled onto my back. Blood pumped out of the open wound with each beat of my heart.
Boaz frowned. “That can’t be good.”
Death’s darkness crept toward me, anxious to claim me for itself. I welcomed it. Death would be better than staring up at the devil who now stood over me with a quizzical expression upon his face. But my wish wasn’t granted. The darkness receded into the shadows of the room, taking with it my pain.
Boaz hurried to the chair behind his desk and scribbled furtively in the notebook. “Oh, so it did work. Excellent!”
I slowly stood and inspected the bloody hole in my gown. The wound had entirely healed. “Tell me Boaz,” I said. “What makes you think I won’t leave you, now that I know your true motives?”
Boaz stopped writing and looked up. “Oh, there’s nowhere for you to go now. You are one of us.”
“I am nothing like you.”
Boaz’s gaze burned into mine. He stood up so quickly and with such force that his chair flew backwards, smashing into the bookcase behind him. He rounded his desk and grabbed me by the arm, physically dragging me in front of a tall mirror not far away.
“Look at you!” he said, holding me by my shoulders and giving me a shake. He grabbed my chin and forced me to face my reflection. “See how you’ve changed? You’re so full of hate that it’s changed even your physical appearance. You are cruel and ruthless. You use magic for your own personal gain, but most of all, you crave the power—just like me.”
I stared at myself in the mirror, and for the first time in a long while, I really looked. I didn’t recognize the woman before me. She had a hardness to her that only the worst kind of experiences could give. My hair, once a vibrant flaxen color, was now almost entirely black like the color of a raven’s wing. The tight emerald green nightgown I wore was cut low, exposing the majority of my chest. I cowered.
Boaz shoved me back toward the mirror. “Don’t shrink from it, love. Embrace it!”
I stumbled into the glass, suddenly frightened by the cruelty that stared back at me in those green eyes. They no longer reflected the chaste light I’d once guarded with my life. All innocence was gone. I reached forward to touch the reflection in hopes that when I did so, it would be an illusion like all of Boaz’s other deceptions. But when I touched my face in the mirror, I touched evil. I felt the power of it and saw the same dark mist I frequently saw in Boaz’s eyes rise in my own.
Behind me, Boaz laughed.