Boaz snorted. “That’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard.”
I lowered my head, wishing I could be wherever the vampire with the sorrow filled eyes was.
“Last chance. Join me willingly.”
I didn’t answer, and I didn’t care what he did to me anymore. There was nothing left.
“Very well. You will never be the same again.”
He stood up and walked out of the room with Hunwald by his side. The door slammed behind him without being touched.
Chapter 22
I remained alone in my room for days; no one even brought me food. At first, I was starving, but then I realized it was more from habit than true hunger. My body was only slightly weakened by the lack of food.
Since there were no distractions, I used the time to gather my strength mentally for what was to come. It was going to be bad; I knew that. But whatever it was, I couldn’t use magic. The more I thought this—the more I said it out loud—the more my resolve strengthened. The spark inside me was growing, slowly snuffing out the darkness that had rooted itself inside me.
I stared out the window toward the full moon above. It was a clear night. Tiny pin-pricks of light dotted the black sky. When their footsteps approached outside my bedroom door, I focused on the strength of the stars. No matter how many times night came, they always managed to stay bright.
The door flew open. Boaz, Erik, and Sable all walked in at once. Erik and Boaz were both smiling—not joyfully, but triumphantly—but Sable’s brow was creased, and she was wringing her hands.
Boaz set a wooden chest on my bed. Nobody looked at me except for Hunwald, who stood stiffly in the doorway.
“What is that?” I asked.
“Another present, love,” Boaz said.
He opened the box and gently removed an old, intricately designed silver necklace. The short chain was made of many jagged strands of silver wound around each other tightly, similar to the thorned stem of a rose. At its base was a spider-like claw that clung to a glass orb. When Boaz raised it to the light, a thick red liquid sloshed inside, coating the sides with a layer of what could only be blood.
“I don’t want any more of your presents,” I said, backing up toward the window.
“I’m afraid you have no choice.” Boaz turned to Sable. “And you’re sure this is ready?”
“Like I told you before, the necklace wasn’t made for this, but I think I have used its magic correctly. We won’t know until you put it on her.”
Erik let out an exaggerated sigh. “Let’s get this over with. If this doesn’t work we’ll just kill her.”
Boaz glanced at him sharply. “No one is to hurt her, do you understand? If this doesn’t work, we’ll find something else.” He turned to face me. “Erik, hold her.”
Erik moved behind me and pinned my arms to my chest. I didn’t struggle—didn’t see the point—but as the necklace moved closer and I was overcome by the suffocating feeling of absolute darkness, I thrashed wildly. It was an evil like nothing I’d ever felt before, the kind that exists only in a demon’s nightmare. I tried to shake off Erik’s grip, but I wasn’t just fighting his strength. Sable was nearby, chanting under her breath.
With Boaz’s free hand, he clenched my neck, and with the other, he twisted the necklace around me. He didn’t have to latch it—it latched itself.
They all stepped away from me.
I held still, my hands outstretched as if I’d been doused with water. At first, nothing happened. But within moments, the darkest of dark energy was spreading throughout my body. My arm twisted and jerked, and then my leg shook uncontrollably. I collapsed to the ground in agonizing pain, but it wasn’t physical. It was the pain of evil killing every part of humanity and decency inside me. I didn’t think there was any left after all the horrible things I’d done, but evil searched me thoroughly and found parts of me, though they were few, that still had goodness in them.
After the dark energy had taken over my extremities, it turned inward toward my heart. It stabbed at it as if a hot poker, branding its mark upon my most vulnerable and precious organ. It burned with hell’s fire, and I screamed. I didn’t stop until evil’s process was complete, leaving nothing left but pure, untainted rage.
I rose from the floor, power surging through me. Veins and arteries were visible just beneath my almost translucent skin; black blood pumped throughout my body. My hair had turned raven black, and it lifted in the air, swaying gently, despite their being no draft in the room.
Sable gasped, Erik grunted, and Boaz said, “Amazing.”
“Look at her eyes,” Sable whispered.