I woke early the next morning. I gathered my work attire and stumbled to the restroom, where I shut the door and stared at myself in the circular mirror. The woman reflected within was too thin, too pale, and too tired. Her bruises and abrasions had convalesced beneath the persistence of witch magic, but the ghost of their presence remained like the imprint of footsteps pressed upon wet sand. My eyes were ruddy from shedding guilty, furious tears in the privacy of my own bedroom throughout the night.
I looked horrid.
The shower ran and the heat fogged the glass. Angry, I swept my hand across the mirror and fancied I saw a spark of red bloom within my right eye. I touched the eyelid, startled, and ran my finger through the wet lashes. On further inspection, I decided I had been mistaken.
I stepped under the stream of scalding water. It sluiced over my hunched shoulders and dispelled some of the unsettling aches from my bones. It seeped through the bandage strapped to my side, peeling the used tape and gauze from the skin until the wound was revealed.
Pink water circled the drain as I placed a hand upon the tiled wall and gritted my teeth against the pain.
Get a grip, Sara! I told myself as I exhaled a forceful breath. Darius was right. Remorse is a useless emotion; I cannot change what I did, but I can give Tara the vengeance she deserves. I can try to do right by her.
I lifted my head, allowing the spray to course over my face and steal my breath.
If only it were as easy as I make it sound.
The typical crowd of morning workers flowed on the avenue around me and the Sin of Pride. We stood on the rain dampened sidewalk outside Klau Tower, subverting the listless tide of nameless people corralling themselves to their respective jobs. Weeks prior, I would have been another one of those faceless people. I would have bowed my head to society's parameters and would have walked the line.
If not for IMOR Advances and the Exordium, I would have remained a corporate drone until the day I died.
Darius lowered his sunglasses as he peered at the smaller tower housing IMOR Advances. It sat as innocuous as it ever did in Klau's impressive shadow. After a full breakfast and evening of rest, the demon's eyes had resumed their scarlet hue and were vivid beneath the rim of his dark lashes. "I don't see many employees within IMOR today. Perhaps they are closed."
A fair number of suited professionals passed IMOR's entrance or ducked beneath its glass awning to find relief from the misting rain—but none of them entered the building. "Why do you think that is?" I asked the Sin, unable to stomach looking at the building for long. Instead, I looked at Klau and the handful of protesters who had braved the intemperate weather today.
"I am not sure, but we can assume it does not bode well for us." Darius adjusted his sunglasses again before shoving his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket. He was underdressed compared to those around us—but the Sin didn't care. He carried himself with his usual cold, indifferent posture. "Go to work, Sara. I will look into IMOR with more...scrutiny before we begin planning."
With that, the Sin began walking across the street and vanished between two groups of oblivious businessmen enamored with their phones. Shaking my head, I turned upon my heels and marched through Klau's guarded doors.
My morning manning the receptionist's desk at Klau proved to be as prosaic and uneventful as any other day. I was distracted by my guilt-ridden thoughts, but there was little else to command my attention. The phone rang and irate clients demanded I transfer their calls to various departments—which I did, pleased to find that I had finally managed to learn most of the extensions.
Angela, the other receptionist, was still absent. I glanced at her empty station and wondered if the woman had given into fear and had fled Klau.
Few people wandered over the front threshold and even fewer lingered within the lobby. The hour grew later and yet the sky continued to darken as the weather deteriorated further. The inconsistent mist became a downpour and sharp bullets of water chattered against the lobby's front windows. Thunder voiced its displeasure overhead, and the lights flickered whenever lightning struck the tower's conductors. I felt sorry for the guards outside, who stood stiff-backed while the rain soaked them to the bone.
I browsed the internet without intent, my thoughts far from the long desk I manned alone. I concentrated on the bulbous chandelier of gold filigree and glass crystals when the internet lost my interest. If I centered my thoughts and buried the rest of my misgivings, I could almost sense the earthy purr of energy living inside those hoary crystals. Witch magic, I speculated. It feels natural when compared to the magic of a mage, which feels esoteric but not quite...wrong. Not like that magic the cult's witch used on Darius.
A notably large bash of thunder roused my notice when the main doors opened and the sound filled the empty lobby. I lowered my gaze to the entrance, where a tall, lean man strolled by the silent metal detectors.
My heart stopped. I knew I was about to die.
Like many of my recollections from the night Tara died, my memory of Balthier hadn't been wholly accurate. I remembered him radiating far more menace than the suave gentleman approaching my desk was. I had pictured fangs and horns and, perhaps, a tongue made of flame—but the man before me had none of those things. He was a fit, attractive guy dressed in a pricey dark green suit with his cut hair neatly styled. His gentle smile grew as he continued forward.
I imagined the multitude of people who saw that devil coming and perceived the danger.
The cold reached me before he did. It blew across my bare calves then crawled upward with bony, deathly hands. My skin broke out in a rash of gooseflesh as the cold clawed at my chest and ate at my wound. I stood at the desk with nothing but a half-formed chain of paperclips in my hands, my mind too dumbfounded and terrified to order my feet to move. It was a miracle I hadn't screamed.
"Hello," the Sin of Envy said in a voice of cheer and poise. He laced his hands together upon the raised counter separating the two of us. It was the only thing separating us. The man who had killed me was no more than an arm's length away, and I was too stupefied to run. "I was sent here for a...Sara Gaspard. Do you know where I can find her?"
Darkness ate at my vision until everything was reduced to mere pinpricks of color and light. I'm having a nightmare. I have to be having a nightmare.
The Sin's brow quirked as he separated his hands and reached inside his sport coat. "Let me see...Ah! Yes, here it is." Balthier withdrew a slender, poorly laminated card from within his coat. He flicked it upright to read it front, and his smirk took on a crueler mien. "Oh! How nice—and convenient. It's you."
The card tumbled between the Sin's fingers to land upon the desk. My own jaded face peered from its glossy front, accompanied by my name and my former job title. My IMOR ID. They—they sent Balthier after me! Darius and I have pushed them too far and they've grown desperate!
The Sin continued to smile, enjoying himself. He leaned over the counter to brush his knuckles along my jaw. His skin was damp from the rain outside. The scent of deserts and wildfires filled my nose, and for one terrible moment, I was back in the Exordium's chains with the Sin of Envy ready to drive that silver dagger into my side.
Balthier chuckled as venomous color blossomed within his eyes. The otherness of his stare was exactly as I recalled it, whispering and cloying below those flickering lids. His presence wrapped about my throat like a serpent steadily tightening its constrictive body until I couldn't breathe. The darkness continued to feather the edges of my vision.
"My, you're trembling," he murmured as he trapped a lock of my hair between his forefinger and thumb. The Sin drew it out between us, raising it to his mouth. He peered at me from under his brown lashes, a gentle smile still possessing his lips. "It's not often I'm sent to call on such a lovely young lady, and yet it seems as if you already know me. Tell me, lovely...have we met before?"
I couldn't speak, my terror so complete words had become foreign to me. He...he doesn't remember. He doesn't even remember killing me?!
Balthier lightly sniffed my hair before allowing it to fall again. Some of the harshness etched into his forced, congenial visage eased as the creature frowned. "Orchids...."
The main doors opened again, allowing another crash of thunder to enter the building. Lightning struck the tower and dimmed the lights as someone rushed inside. Balthier turned just as the Sin of Pride, dripping wet from the rain, realized who was standing at the desk. His sneakers screeched on the stone floor in his haste to stop, and the sound chased the final rumbles of thunder.
The Sin of Envy and the Sin of Pride stared at one another in a moment of shared disquiet.
My fear summoned him. Sara, you stupid girl, you've gotten Darius killed as well!
"Darius!" Balthier crowed in greeting. He sounded like a brother meeting his kin after a long, unwelcome separation—but the cold that abruptly engulfed the lobby ripped savage shivers from my body, and I knew there was no one else on this earth Balthier would like to see less. Balthier forgot me in favor of his aggravating nemesis. "How are you?"
The Sin of Pride took one precious second to school his features and bury his surprise. The grim mask of disinterest slid over his face with practiced ease—but his eyes retained their furious light as they landed upon me. I held his darkening gaze as it flickered in the direction of the metal doors hiding the technician's floor.
Go, that look said. Go now.
Balthier advanced toward Darius as my limbs unfroze. I snatched my ID from the desk and—for once—I did exactly what the Sin of Pride told me to.
I left.
* * *
Darius refused to watch his host as the slight woman took something from the desk and silently fled. The Sin had never seen someone move so swiftly before, running as if she was a ghost roving through the night, appearing and disappearing on her whim. The door she darted through closed without a sound and left no trace of Sara Gaspard's passage.
Envy came nearer Darius, disease and cold rankling the air teeming in his wake. Balthier was already laying claim to what scraps of energy there were to be had inside Amoroth's domain, but Darius quickly inhaled to steal what bits of power and heat remained. The enchantress crystals hanging above died as the eldritch creatures depleted their spells.
"What are you doing here, Darius?" Balthier asked. He rubbed his thumb against the inside of his forefinger as if trying to dispel a lingering reaction. The Sin's mind was unbalanced, split between two avenues of thought and unsure of which to travel.
Darius knew this because he was familiar with the sensation. The older the Original Sins grew, the more...unsettled their minds became. Time's ennui plants the saplings of madness within us, Sethan had once told his brother. We must be vigilant and pluck the seeds before the roots bury themselves too deep.
You cannot find every seed planted by a growing forest, Darius thought in answer to his brother's distant words. We can try, but the trees will flourish and we all lose ourselves beneath the branches of time's ravages. Even Balthier.
Darius shrugged as he jerked his chin toward the ceiling. "I imagine the same reason you're here; to speak with Amoroth."
"Is that so?" The Sin of Envy remembered something and glanced sidelong at the vacant desk. "Well, by the Seven—this one's a touch cleverer the others. Quicker, too. Did you see which way she went?"
Others? What does he mean by others...? Darius's brow rose as he came to a sudden realization. "You're the Klau Killer, aren't you?"
Balthier's forbidding grin flickered as his gaze returned to Darius. "You seem awfully informed."
"Do I?" Darius shifted nearer the pond to put much needed space between himself and the other Sin. "All one has to do is listen to the Terrestrian news. Your antics have hardly been discreet, Balthazar."
"And you still haven't learned manners. I thought your time in Nitherina would have taught you better by now. I can only assume the Baal was too lenient with you." The Sin of Envy closed the distance Darius had been trying to expand. He grabbed Darius by the collar of his jacket and wrenched him nearer until the taller Sin had his face bent to Pride's, all trace of cultured civility fizzling in an instant.
"I have business here, filth—and if you don't wish to become part of that business, I suggest you leave. You should leave Verweald. In fact, you should skip along back to England with your tail between your legs like a good pup. Bring a message to Cuxiel for me. Tell him I'm coming for him." Balthier's nails gained strength as they adopted a more talon-like form and bore holes into Darius's collarbone. Darius knew the wounds would not heal for several hours, but he did not make a sound as Envy gouged him. "You know how I love a good hunt."
Darius pushed Balthier away as embers spilled from his fingertips. His hands left singe marks upon the chest of Envy's spotless suit. "Don't treat me like second-born scum, Balthier," Darius raged, allowing his foreign words to chip and crack the mortar of Amoroth's abode. "If you're going to kill me, at least give me the dignity I deserve."
"That's the thing, old friend," Balthier stated as he brushed the fresh burns ruining his attire. "You don't deserve dignity."
His blow came too quickly for Darius to dodge. The Sin of Pride snarled as Balthier's fist slammed into his jaw, throwing Darius over the koi pond and into one of the structural pillars. The building trembled against the impact. Broken bones ground against one another as Darius clutched the lower half of his face and rose to his knees. He glared at Envy but knew in the depths of his mind, in the part not throttled by his own foolish pride, that a fight between the two of them would only have one outcome.
His death.
Balthier massaged his sore knuckles as he sneered, some of his energy ebbing after delivering such a powerful blow. "I'll be seeing you again very soon, Darius," he promised as his hatred dripped from every word like saccharine poison. "And you must have a host by now, hmm? Yes, I'll be visiting him very soon as well. Give my regards."
Balthier vanished into the Realm's waiting embrace. After shoving his jaw into place, Darius followed suit—but not to give chase. No, the Sin of Pride had only one thing upon his mind:
Sara.
* * *
I ran for blocks. I ran until the wound in my side demanded I stopped, and then I collapsed against a block wall separating me from a patchy school soccer field. I had no idea where I was, only that I had surpassed the vestiges of the industrial area and was now surrounded by dowdy residential homes and the aforementioned elementary school. I think I was in an undersized neighborhood dividing the industrial park from the projects.
After leaving Klau, rational thought had me dashing for my car in the parking garage—but scared misgivings directed my path westward, away from my car, away from Klau, and away from the Sin of Envy. I feared Balthier would be able to find my car. I feared returning home. I knew Imor had my address on file.
The laughter of kids on the other side of the barrier playing soccer despite the rain was a strangely comforting sound. Normalcy, I reminded myself as I sunk to the sticky pavement. I was by an abandoned bus stop and nothing else. The comfort of normal things always grounds me. Children playing. My home. My books. Mamé's quilt. I wrapped myself in the memory of my grandmother's blanket and clutched it to my chest. God, how stupid I was to ever scoff at a boring life. I brought this upon myself. Why couldn't I remain satisfied with my old life? Why did I let my life run wild along this path?
"Qui n'avance pas, recule." Blanche Gaspard's words poured from my lips and drifted in the damp air. I sighed as I leaned upon the wall, listening to those children play as my blood continued to pound in my ears. "'If you don't advance, you recede.' Well, mamé, I think I advanced in the wrong damn direction...."
Darius appeared from the Realm. I choked on my startled scream, having to first convince myself it wasn't Balthier coming to kill me. My heart raced inside my ribs as nausea roiled through my middle.
"You ran for miles!" the Sin snarled as he flung his hand toward the east, where Klau Tower was visible through the straggling storm clouds. "I thought I was never going to bloody find you!"
Miles? How was that possible?
Darius's neck and jaw were colored purple and red by a swollen bruise. Blood stained the front of his soaked gray t-shirt—but he was alive. "You're all right," I said, my relief sudden and unexpected. Cowardice had driven me from Klau in a blind race across the city, but I had wanted to return. I hadn't wanted to leave Darius there alone with Balthier.
"No, I'm not all right!" Darius snapped, wincing at the movement the action forced from his jaw. His hands gripped his sodden hair until it stood on end. "I need to leave this disgusting city!"
I used the wall as leverage to stand upright. My wound throbbed. How long did Darius have before the Sin of Envy focused his murderous intentions onto him? How long did I have until the madman sorted through the psychotic delirium in his mind and remembered who I was?
I was exhausted. So was Darius. Our journey together had been long and fraught with perils. I sensed, however, that our journey was coming to a swift end. With Balthier's eyes upon us, Darius and I did not have long to survive.
"We have to go now," I told the Sin. He stopped furiously muttering under his breath, surprised by my words. "To IMOR."
"I don't give a damn about IMOR! Or the stupid contract!" he yelled as he began to pace. "If we don't leave Verweald, we will both die!"
"I'm already dying!" I reminded him as I cupped my side. Darius's eyes snapped down to follow the new spots of red rising on the shirt. "And the contract is all I have left. We need to destroy my employee file at IMOR. I'll have Amoroth destroy the one at Klau. Beyond that, no one knows where I live. He won't be able to find me—find you."
Darius' restless pacing ceased. He let out a noise that was half defeated cry, half incensed roar. He slapped the flat of his palm against the wall and the entire thing shifted two inches to the side with the sound of grating stone. He would never admit it, but Darius was just as frightened as I was by the Sin of Envy. I couldn't imagine what it must be like for him. As a human woman, being weak and oppressed was something I was accustomed to. Being afraid was how I survived. For a creature like Darius, who sat at the food chain's pinnacle with very little that could challenge him...fear was probably a maddening emotion.
"Fine." The Sin of Pride extended his hand as he ground his teeth in resignation. He would not look at me as I laid my fingers in his, waiting, but he did squeeze firmly enough for me to flinch. "I know better than to argue your foolishness. We'll go now. Let us hurry and be done with this."