Soulmate Cravings

Macabre Couple

     Pam never expected to lose this way. She expected to take Tine out before she died. She knew she would die. Her army wasn't strong enough to have survived this fight yet. Tine, coming into the picture, had put things in motion that Pam's plans weren't ready to combat yet, but at least Tine would go down with her. But this fucking betrayal of Mil's had destroyed it all. They had won, but instead of the death she thought she'd be granted, Tine had decided to drag it out, and of course Sarawat had agreed.

     Tine's sentence giving them time to torture her and make her witness the events she had spent over 3500 years working to prevent. Rubbing in her face the failure of her 3500-year-old quest. She wanted death. She knew her manner of death would be ripping her heart out because it was the most painful, but it still would have been over in minutes. Sarawat was about to grant her peace, but, instead, the little abomination had ripped her peace away before Sarawat could grant it.

     Not only did Tine take her quick execution away, but he flaunted the way Sarawat physically and emotionally gravitated around Tine. He was going to make her watch as he took everything she had ever wanted, everything she had ever worked for. He was going to take it simply by existing and, like a spoiled brat; he was going to brag about it. She could see that as clearly as the smug smile adorning his pretty little face widened every time he looked at her.

     She didn't want this. She had to choose between reputation and a quick death. If they killed her now, she would never have to see them tarnish her reputation. So she might as well spill some of her secrets, and hope they would be enough to secure her execution now, and not follow Tine's sentence of a slow death that included watching everything she'd built crumble before they allowed her death.

     She watched Tine's display that showed how much control he had over Sarawat. She could see it etched in every line of Sarawat's lovesick, dopey face. She wouldn't be able to break the spell Tine had over him to be able to get him to disregard Tine's wishes long enough to take her out. So instead, she turned her attention to the other.

     The other who had blinded her for over 2000 years. She had trusted him, had confided in him. All those years of slaughtering side by side, and it had all been a ruse to get her here. He wanted to make sure she hurt, but he had been festering for so long, and there were no calm seas to keep his emotions under control.

     Pam looked away from Tine's gaze and stared at Mil until Mil felt the gaze and looked up to meet her eyes. She knew the more she revealed about Phukong's end, the more she'd hurt him. She drew several ragged breaths, trying to regain mastery over her mangled chest. "Mystic's breath isn't the only form of black magic. It's just the only one that is forbidden. There are other forms. Forms that can confuse and addle the senses."

     "After you died, Phukong would drive me crazy going on nonstop about how he could still feel you. Deep in his gut, he could still feel your soul inside of his. He was adamant about going back to search for you, but he'd always come back empty-handed. After hearing your tale, I realize now that you must have been buried too far and been too weak for him to hear you. I can't even fathom how horrible it must have been to be buried that deep and to be so weakened that not even a vampire, actively searching for you, could hear you. No wonder it took ten years for you to dig yourself out," she mused with a mockingly false sympathy before shrugging off the thought.

     "But it doesn't matter. After so long, I grew tired of his whines when it came to his belief that he could still feel you somehow, and I blocked his senses with black magic. He had to spend more time behind the scenes than on the battlefield after that, since his senses weren't what they used to be, but at least he didn't whine about sensing you anymore."

     "Phukong was embarrassed about his loss of sense. He thought it meant he was becoming inadequate, so he hid the loss from the coven. Only a few rare people knew about it, and I was one of them since I was the one who cast it. I thought his latching onto the idea of continuing to sense you was him being unable to let you go, but now I know otherwise. Thank god, I blocked them or else he may have found his way back to you sooner."