It was the least I could do for Theodora, I supposed. By my estimations we still had a few hours left until King used his gifts to find us and until the deed needed to be done. And I had to admit, spending time with her, staring into her large green eyes (I wasn’t a Seer, so I saw the real her), watching the way she looked at me, it all started bringing back those memories from when she was óolal and I was simply a stranded stranger in her village.
So yes, even against my better judgment and knowing how much more difficult it would make Theodora’s task of ending me, I found myself unable to resist having these final moments together. There was nothing sweeter, nothing more right in this world than spending time with her. When I wasn’t busy pushing back my urge to kill her, that was.
I cleared my throat, determined to project nothing but confidence. There could be no doubt in her mind regarding how this day would end.
“The second time we met,” I said, “was about five hundred years ago. I had been recently raised from the dead by my brother after his many failed attempts. Not a happy period of my life—King was as tormented, bloodthirsty, and just as violent as I was. And he was strong—something he liked to remind me of.”
I watched Theodora’s expression sour. “He hit you?”
“No. He beat me. Severely. But he beat anyone who displeased him. He killed anyone who disobeyed him.”
“Jesus. No wonder you don’t want to see the guy.”
“I admit that I dreamed of killing my brother and taking revenge, but then I learned the truth about him and what he’d given up to bring me back from the dead.”
“Don’t hold me in suspense,” she said with a certain grim fascination.
“He was cursed like I was, but he was a ghost, his soul in constant pain.”
Theodora’s mouth sort of hung open, revealing a bit of that soft pink tongue. I wanted to stroke it with mine along with a few of her other body parts.
I shifted in my chair so she wouldn’t notice my arousal. “I had to hand it to my brother; his sheer will to get back to Mia was a force unlike any other. Though it took him a few centuries, he learned how to materialize for short instances. From there, he began tracking down people—shamans, witches, Seers, anyone with gifts who could help him extend, control and manipulate the curtain that separated him from the world of the living. He got so good at it that no one knew he was dead. He amassed a huge fortune and built a powerful network of very dangerous allies; he could go anywhere he wanted with the blink of an eye. But when he finally found a way to bring me back into this world, he gave up the opportunity for himself.”
“So he could’ve brought himself back to life but didn’t.”
“Yes. He chose me over his own needs. He said that without me by his side, he would never be able to set his life right again.”
“I’m still unclear about how one comes back from the dead and gets a new body.”
I shrugged. “It took him a few thousand years to do it—he found a man who knew how to use a particular necklace he obtained many, many years prior from Cleopatra.”
“How’d he get a necklace from her?”
“He fucked her, gained her trust, and once he got his hands on it, he killed her.”
Theodora’s face twisted with disgust. “Remind me to stay far the hell away from your brother.”
“Don’t feel bad for her. Cleopatra was ruthless and powerful. She had plenty of blood on her own hands.”
“I always thought she died from a snake bite.”
“A myth. She died from having her body drained of blood—something that my brother also wanted since it fetched a high price on the black market.”
Theodora frowned.
“Cleopatra was no ordinary woman,” I explained. “She was so powerful that ingesting just a few drops of blood could make a person look ten years younger.”
“How do you know all this?”
“I have helped my brother run his business, on and off, for centuries.” Ironic, I know. I had been dead set against ever working with him, but some things were simply meant to be.
“What does he do?” she asked.
“He’s a power broker of sorts, but the occult version.”
“I’m definitely staying away from him.”
A wise choice. “Well, the issue is that he and I are linked. Our souls connected as twin brothers.”
I could see the dots connecting inside Theodora’s mind.
“That’s why he refuses to let you die,” she whispered, clearly thinking aloud.