I landed with a thud. It would’ve been nice to know a hard floor of some kind was in my future, but I had very low expectations when it came to dealing with Malphas. He probably expected me to somehow cushion my own fall.
“And your low expectations are exactly why I thought we could use a little alone time. Sorry for not stopping the abrupt landing. I’m not used to caring about whether the people traveling with me are comfortable.”
It was still dark, so I didn’t know if he’d taken a form. I did notice I still had my knife clutched in my right hand. I raised my left hand and manifested a small fire ball to see what was immediately around me. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know exactly where I was.
After hearing stories about Malphas’ origins, I was fairly certain we were in hell. Not necessarily the place most humans would think of, full of fire and brimstone. In my mind, hell was anywhere Malphas decided to call home.
Judging by the couch I saw immediately in front of me, it felt like I’d found myself in a house of some sort, which was not what I expected. When I thought of Malphas, I didn’t envision a white picket fence.
“With Nate is where I want to be, take me there now and let me be free.” I didn’t bother offering a sacrifice. I thought the need to be away from Malphas allowed for me to be a little casual with the normal ritual.
I didn’t immediately feel any headaches and it was obvious I didn’t send myself back to Nate’s side. I increased the intensity on my fireball to get a better look around. Right as I was making out more furniture, a light was flipped on and I could see the living room I stood in without the shadows my light cast.
I kept the fire burning, because I was fairly certain I was going to need to hurl it at the man smiling at me from twenty feet away. Malphas was dressed in all black, which was the only way I’d ever seen him. It matched the color of his soul, so I supposed it was appropriate.
“I brought you here because magic doesn’t work here. Yes, you can manifest your fire toys, but that’s because that comes from a place that isn’t magic. It’s just part of who you are. Also, I’ll let you know now that nothing you can do will cause me any damage. Even your knife right now is neutralized, so we won’t be killing each other while we talk.”
I let the fire in my hand die without hurling it at him. I thought about doing it to reiterate I didn’t want to be anywhere near him, but it didn’t feel like the right time to be childish. Most of his demon spawn were able to keep it from hurting them, so I was sure he could, whether he was able to use magic or not.
“What about you? What abilities do you have that don’t come from magic that I need to worry about? You didn’t mention whether you were able to kill me, of course I probably wouldn’t believe you whatever you said.”
I was still sitting on the floor, and I didn’t have any plans to move. I could see Malphas, a couch, two recliners and an entertainment center with a large flat screen. I had no idea where I was, but it was too normal to be a house Malphas spent a lot of time in.
I imagined his home would was filled with shriveled body parts as decorations and darkly painted walls. I didn’t see any specific art or family photos hanging on the beige walls, but it seemed like they’d fit in fine. It was a little more modest in size that the mansion I called home, but it didn’t seem like he had thirty other people living under his roof.
“Only on the battlefield do you need to worry about what I can do. We are both perfectly safe here. By the way, I’m glad to hear you don’t mind my choices in decorating. I have a special room where I keep my shrunken heads and withered hearts if you’d like to see them at some point, but for the most part I prefer the more normal décor.”
The smirk on his face as he finished speaking told me there wasn’t really a room where he kept his more macabre decorations. He hadn’t divulged what powers he had that weren’t magical, but reading my mind was on the list. I hoped the ability to block people out that I’d developed would start kicking in.
“Do you want to explain why we’re here?”
Malphas moved from his spot across the room, causing me to jump to my feet. I didn’t want to be in a vulnerable position in case he moved to attack. I had no reason to believe his claim that my knife wouldn’t work. It was the kind of thing anyone would say if they knew someone in a room wanted to kill them and had the means to do so.
“I’ve already explained that. I want us to have a chance to talk and I prefer that we did that without outside forces, even though I know you’d be more comforted with them around. I’ve found you to be more interesting than I thought you’d be.”
“The only reason you have any need to have a conversation with me is because you can’t find the baby you’re determined to kill. Eva told me you’ve been trying to get through her protection, and I’m sure this is just some kind of ploy to try to get to your goal of destroying my family.”
Malphas cut the distance between us in half and stopped as he pondered my words. He didn’t look like the same man who’d crashed my wedding. His hair wasn’t as long, or unruly, as I remembered and the sinister look I remembered had melted away to reveal a man who was obviously working to be charming.
I preferred dealing with a villain who looked the part. I could still see Malphas as the villain, but the new appearance made him look like an average man. Maybe not exactly average, there was something curious about him. It wasn’t something I wanted to figure out, but I could see it.
“The prophecy states you will be the end of me and my family, and you wonder why I’ve worked to disrupt you and your family. The initial request for your next baby was only because I thought having the oracle would keep me safe. Just like the next person, I prefer not to die.”
“And now that you’ve remembered that it’s me who will kill you and not one of my children, you’ve decided to change your tactics. Don’t you realize the fact that you even for a second tried to threaten my children means I have to kill you? I’m not one of those people who can turn the other cheek and live happily knowing there’s someone out there who may decide to attack.”
“I know how much your family means to you, which is why I think you may come around to my thinking. I’ve managed to come across a glimpse of the future where your brother doesn’t make it out of the battle. We both know the future can change, and I’m giving you a way to do that.”
“And you think me becoming your consort will solve all my problems. As Nate said when he heard your offer, you do know that’s impossible, right? It’s not like we’re just merely fond of each other. We’re connected on a level I doubt you understand.”
It was creepy hearing a man who unapologetically stole people’s souls saying he wanted me as his companion. Even if he hadn’t implied it would be for a physical relationship, I didn’t want anything to do with him. I was doing my best to try to come up with a way to escape from him without saying spells, or the usual ability I had that could transport me from one place to another.
It would take a lot of work if I tried the natural ability I seemed to have, because I’d only used it to travel short distances. I had no idea where we were, but I figured Malphas wasn’t living in a nice farm house in Iowa.
“I don’t think it’d be as difficult as you think. You just have to give me a part of you to hold on to, and your mate back at the tents won’t be an issue. It’s a really a simple procedure, and I promise you won’t feel a thing.”
My jaw dropped when he revealed that part of his plan. I had met quite a few delusional people, but Malphas had to top the list. I didn’t think it was possible for a person to be as crazy as he was.
“Not only do you think you can get me in your bed, but you think I’ll be okay with becoming one of your flunky warlocks? Were you dropped repeatedly as a baby or something? I’ve never found anything that said you had a mother like a normal person, but I assume you didn’t magically appear one day the size you are now.”
He tilted his head to the side and shook it. “You’re thinking about the wrong part of y
ou. As I told you earlier, I’ve been watching you since your wedding and I’ve grown fond of what I’ve seen. I think with us teaming up together we could accomplish so many things. You could be the goodness that counteracts what has made me who I am. I wouldn’t mind being seen as something other than an evil monster.”
In no way had he explained his plan further, at least not past the part where he claimed he wasn’t ripping my essence out of my body to make me a warlock. I was afraid to learn what he had in mind, and since I knew I wouldn’t agree to the deal, it wasn’t important.
“It would’ve been nice if you could’ve found a nice woman to provide the goodness you think you need, but I’m not that woman. I think to qualify for that job it would be important for the person not to have killed people. If you remember, I’ve managed to kill quite a few of your little pride and joys. In fact, you once sent me a letter talking about how you wanted to bathe in my blood, or some other nonsense.”
“Hmm. That’s right. I was a little emotional after your first kill, and I may have took things a little far. Alexander was a tad foolish to take you on by yourself. We had hoped early on you wouldn’t have had as many powers as you did. I’ve been working to get your attention, to see how you’d react in different scenarios.”
“And clearly I’ve made a lasting impression. That doesn’t change the fact that I belong to another man, and even if I didn’t, I wouldn’t make the conscious choice to be with you. You’re evil and only because of that have you made me into the somewhat ruthless killer I am today.”
Malphas nodded. “I am, and I suppose you can blame me for altering your life the way I have. I don’t deny what I am, just like you can’t deny what you are. You’re a queen among beings who don’t deserve you. I don’t think you’d accept the title of queen in my world, so the best I can offer you is my consort because we kind of live between the two worlds.
“It’s not like I’m asking you to be my concubine. We would be equals and can wait until our relationship is on solid footing before we consummate anything. If that was all it took to save your brother, surely you’d be willing to give me a chance. As part of the agreement, I would make sure no more warlocks, as you like to call them, were created and my followers would adapt to our new lifestyle.”
I tried hard not to really analyze any of his words. He could tell what I was thinking, and I really didn’t want to give him the idea I was actually thinking over what he had to offer. I wasn’t, but the amount of thought he’d put into the notion was mind-boggling.
“You still haven’t explained to me how exactly you think you can change the fact that I’m bound unconditionally to Nate. I assume you’re aware that he’s probably tracking me through the connection we have. I can feel him out there. He’s not close, but he always finds me. Even when I came back as essentially a different person, he eventually found me.”
“You know, I’ve always been curious about phoenixes bonds. It’s difficult to find a pair to experiment with, but I’ve tampered with enough normal uniques to have a good feeling that what I plan will work. I’m sure it will be a little strange since you’ve spent so much time with him, but we have time to work it out.”
Malphas took a few steps towards me, and the amount of air I was okay sharing with him diminished, so I took the same number of steps backwards. He’d said magic wouldn’t work, and my spell hadn’t. That left me with fighting in the normal way, which was fine, but I wanted to catch him off guard when I attacked.
“And what if I decide your idea is stupid and settle for things working themselves out on the battlefield? You have to know that’s going to be my preference.”
A look of cocky arrogance flashed across Malphas’ face as he smiled brightly at me. I promised myself that would be the last time he thought he had the upper hand. Our location made that a difficult promise, but I’d try to keep it.
“Before we go into the details of what I propose and figuring out your decision, I want to prove to you that we aren’t as different as you and everybody else thinks. In fact, even more than you and your Nate are connected, we have a road so intertwined that no matter what that prophecy says, we were bound to eventually be together.”
I couldn’t take it anymore. The man was missing so many marbles that his brain had turned to mush. I didn’t think about it at all. I just charged at him with my knife held high. We’d see how much we belonged together, right after I killed him.
I only made it three steps before the room slipped away. For the room being a magical blocker, I felt a tingle that couldn’t be explained by anything other than magic.
CHAPTER 20
Just when you think you have all the facts