Word Count: 1493
~Vaela
My entire existence feels off its axis as I slowly come to consciousness.
I feel different. Better.
Sitting up, I look down at my skin, knowing I'm immortal again. A smile slowly stretches across my face. It worked, or at least, I'm alive.
I'm in a small, unfamiliar room. The walls are stained a dark crimson, looking nothing like how I remember when I first came into Death's realm.
This doesn't feel right, but at least I'm Immortal.
Standing from the bed, I shake the tension from my shoulders. I need to establish my surroundings, and then wait for a sign from Hale. I just hope this sign comes quickly.
The home I've woken in is stunning and decadent, with rich wood furniture and dark carpet. However this place belongs to is obviously powerful and wealthy, which isn't a good sign.
I find myself in a small living room. There are no windows anywhere, and in this room, only a small candle from the corner of the room lights the area.
I draw in a breath, noting a body laying across the couch.
With cautious steps, I approach the person, trying to make out their features. Dark hair, smooth skin...I gap.
Death.
I've seen her a few times, from living in her realm, but never in person. And now she is here, lying asleep across a couch, no noise rising from her unconscious form.
"Death?" I ask tentatively.
She doesn't so much as flinch.
Frowning, I step closer, grabbing her bare shoulder, shaking her gently. She's cold to the couch, and doesn't wake, even as I shake her a little harder, calling out her name.
"You're not dead, are you?" I lean down, feeling her breath against my ear, but it's light. She may not be dead, but she isn't going to be waking up any time soon.
It takes me over an hour to search the rest of the manor. There are no windows, and no way for me to contact anyone.
The place is entirely empty, and I'm alone.
Eventually I find a front door. I stare at it for a long moment, expecting it to emerge into the bustling city that I'm familiar with in this realm, however, once I finally do open it, it reveals a far more horrifying site.
A tundra that stretches long and far into nothingness.
"This is not what I remember," I mumble.
An icy wind chills my skin until I slam the door closed. For some reason, I ended up here, and there is nowhere for me to go, so I must remain put until Death wakes.
Or until Hale comes to save me.
So I wait. For days.
I'm not sure how many pass.
Death doesn't wake once. Every day I pass through that living room, waiting for her to make any movement, but she doesn't. So all I can do is continue to search the home and sleep.
Today, however, I know what needs to be done.
I can't wait any longer. If I stay here, I'm not going to have any hope, so, I take a thick coat from Death's closet, and open the front door again.
A foggy mist skates over the tundra. The cold is bitter, but now that I'm immortal again, I should be able to handle it.
Distantly, a light suddenly glimmers.
I flinch. What is that?
Squinting, I see it's glow, faint, but there. Is this the sign from Hale I've been waiting for? Maybe he can't get too close because of Death, so he's signalling for me to come to him.
With hope fuelling me for the first time in a while, I step outside, the cold enveloping me.
The walk is brutal. Hours upon hours pass, and eventually, the light grows brighter, before the edge of a building appears around it.
It's a cabin. Hale must be inside.
I don't hesitate as I run up the porch steps, trying not to slip on the ice. The cabin is only small, and must have been built here by Death.
Why she chose to set up in a tundra is beyond me, but I suppose I am mated to a man who has spent many years in a desolate cave in the mountains.
I don't bother knocking on the door, stepping straight inside.
The warmth is an immediate relief. On the far end of the space, a fire blazes, causing me to shrug the fur coat off, dumping it on the ground.
"Hello? Anyone in here?" I ask.
Turning, I see a figure sitting with their back facing me on the couch, staring off out the window, towards Death's manor. They saw my approach, and didn't come out to greet me.
My hope that it's Hale diminishes almost immediately. Whoever this is may have a similar head of thick black hair as him, but they aren't the same.
My heart drops, as I slowly approach him.
"Keo?"
He turns, looking over his shoulder, a triumphant smirk on his face.
"Took you long enough."
My eyes slowly close. This isn't good. Keo told me I needed to become an immortal again, so why he is here, looking at me with those dark green eyes that I'm sure plenty swoon over is beyond me.
"What's going on?" I demand, watching him stand graceful, brushing his hands down his smooth black jacket.
"I'm getting you out of this cursed realm," he says, spreading his arms wide.
"Back to Hale?" I ask hopefully.
"Not quite."
All the hope I once had slowly drains from my chest. I'm not sure why I ever assumed he was capable of having good intentions. He's here on behalf of Relm.
"I have to stay here and wait for him," I say slowly. If I leave this realm, he will have no idea where I went, and he will never be able to come and get me.
"But I put so much work into keeping Death unconscious so I could collect you for myself." His smile is pure evil, as he stalks closer to me.
I knew something was wrong with her, but I presumed it was Hale's way of keeping her from keeping me in her realm. And yet all along, it's been Keo, trying to lure me to this cabin so he can take me away.
"So she isn't dead?" I clarify.
Keo laughs breathily. "How could Death die?"
"I don't know...What do you mean collect me for yourself?" I question, taking a cautious step back as he approaches me with purposeful steps.
"Okay, maybe not myself. More so for Relm," he explains.
My back bumps against the wall. Keo is only a few steps away from me, and the moment he grabs me, he will transport me from this realm, and away from anywhere Hale will know. And it may take him a while to track me down again.
"I did what he wanted...I'm Immortal again, I can feel it," I insist. I did what he wanted.
Keo sighs. "I just told Hale that's what Relm wanted so he would go through with killing you. Had I taken you from the Immortal realm, or whatever you strange people call it, Hale could have tracked you. Like this, that silly spell of his will be muddled, and he won't be able to track it through realms."
I frown. He knows about the spell Hale fed me. How, I don't even want to know, but I get the feeling Keo is aware of far more than he lets on.
"Does Relm want to kill me?" I whisper.
"Not exactly," Keo says, tilts his head back and forth thoughtfully, before holding his hand out to me. "Now, shall we?"
"I'm not going with you," I snap.
I'm stepping into a trap if I go with him. He wouldn't tell me if Relm intends to kill me, so under no circumstance can I trust him.
Keo narrows his eyes. "You could always come with me, and I could take you to my realm, and use you for my own...interests."
I flinch. I don't even want to think about what Keo's own interests are.
"No way," I growl.
"Then take my hand, and let's go meet Relm," he insists.
He's going to make a grab for me, and being taken to whatever realm he is from will mean Hale will never be able to track me down. At least if we return to the immortal realm, I'll have a chance.
So, despite my better judgment, I slid my hand into his, and the world falls away.
💛••💛
As always, the story will be available 10 chapters ahead on Radish!!!
You can also find it on GoodNovel (:
• A DEMON'S KISS IS OUT NOW ON WATTPAD•
"You...You what?"
Kastriv examines my husband with an unforgiving, ice cold gaze. "I want to fuck your wife. And you're going to let me."
~Midika 💜🐼