“Have a good Reaping, my wicked little butterflies,” Sophìa told us. “Show mercy only to yourselves and to the thirst of your Dakor.” We bowed to the Empress. She leapt up and disintegrated into a hundred black butterflies that disappeared through the hole in the ceiling.

  Someone took my hand and I turned around to find Anya giving me an encouraging smile. I nodded to let her know I was ready, then took Devina’s hand as darkness engulfed us. “Follow your instinct,” Devina told me in her mind.

  The chaos lasted only seconds. When the light returned, we were no longer in the Castle. I looked around. I was in a cluttered apartment. Anya and Devina weren’t at my side any more, but even though I couldn’t see them I knew they were there with me. I felt the power of the Bond. However, something just as powerful was summoning me, clouding everything else. An intoxicating sensation. No—perhaps it was a scent. It was nothing and everything, together. The pure essence of evil. I felt it flowing inside me and my blood boiled at its call. I focused on that sweet song and swiftly reached them: a young married couple fighting in the kitchen.

  It was my first Temptation, yet I knew perfectly what to do. My instinct cried out for me to do as it wished. I moved closer and studied them. Within seconds I knew everything. I knew their dirtiest secrets. She looked desperate, her eyes red from crying and her face covered with bruises. She’d waited up all night for him and when he’d gotten home he’d beaten her.

  “I told you I had a meeting!”

  “He’s lying,” I whispered to the woman. “You smell perfume on him. He was with another woman.”

  “A meeting with your whore! Liar!”

  “You’re crazy. Tomorrow I’m sending you back to your mother’s!” he shouted.

  I fed the woman’s suspicions: “So he’ll be free to go to her.”

  “So you’ll be free to go to her, right? Answer me!”

  I looked into the man’s eyes. I was enjoying the game more and more. “Is that how you let a woman treat you? Put her in her place!”

  “Shut up, bitch!” He smacked her face so hard it sent her flying to the ground. She crawled across the floor in tears and I returned to fan the flames inside her.

  “I bet this is how you fuck her, huh?! You used to love doing it with me on the floor. Or do you two do it on your desk?”

  “Don’t hide,” I whispered to the man. “You’re in charge here and she has to accept it. Tell her how it was. Tell her how hard she made you come.”

  “You wanna know how we did it? We did it on the floor and on the couch and in the bathroom and in every corner of my office. While you were here at home I was making her ride me. I fucked her every single day. Happy?”

  I felt her heart break and reach the point of no return. “He fucked her every single day. He’s just a filthy son of a bitch. Make him pay!” The woman shot to her feet, grabbed a knife, and rushed at him with a shriek of rage, but the man stopped her in time and disarmed her, wounding her in the belly in the process. They stared at each other for a long moment. Her eyes were full of fear now. The man’s were bloodshot. He’d lost all control.

  I smiled and whispered my Temptation: “Kill her. Kill her or for you it’ll be the end.”

  “No! Wait!” the woman begged, in tears.

  “Stab her. It’s too late to back out now. She’s just an obstacle. She’ll leave you and press charges. You’ll lose everything. Your life will be over.”

  “I can’t lose everything,” he hissed to himself. Raising the knife, he plunged it into her body again and again, venting all his anger on her. The woman’s eyes opened wide with terror and then went blank. I slipped out of the man’s mind.

  As though emptied, he stood there, perfectly still. He looked at the bloody knife in his hand and flung it to the floor. “What have I done?” he gasped in horror. “Nadine! Nadine!” He tried to revive the woman, but it was useless. The man straightened up, wiping a tear from his eyes, his cheek smeared with the woman’s blood. “Why wouldn’t she believe me? I didn’t do anything with that woman! Nadine . . . I shouldn’t have provoked her like that! I wanted to reassure her and instead I killed her! I’m a monster!”

  Now that I wasn’t clouding his conscience, guilt was consuming him. He stared at the knife for a long moment, then leaned over, picked it up, and plunged it into his heart. His soul came out of his body and looked me straight in the eye. “Who are you?”

  “I’m the evil inside you,” I whispered.

  The man’s eyes bulged and his soul was sucked back into his body, which fell to its knees in a puddle of blood. Something stirred in his mouth. I smiled smugly as a black butterfly forced his lips open and crawled out—his now-damned Soul. I leaned over and picked it up, watching it wriggle between my fingers.

  A powerful energy surged through me like lava, setting my veins aflame. The exhilaration went to my head more strongly than pure poison. How had I ever managed to exist without that sensation before? My Dakor slithered beneath my skin, broke through it near my collarbone, and hissed at the Soul. I could feel my serpent’s heart beat faster. I could sense his thirst. Guided by instinct, he opened his fangs wide and devoured the butterfly.

  The Reaping had begun.

  INSATIABLE THIRST

  I closed my eyes as my Dakor devoured the man’s damned soul and dark energy flooded through me, leaving me in bliss. Everything I’d done up to that point, all the incredible sensations I’d experienced since I’d been in Hell, were suddenly nothing compared to the power surging through me. Not the Hunt, not the Opalion, not all the fun I’d had with my Sisters . . . nothing had quenched my thirst. It was as though I’d been awaiting that moment forever. I realized it was my calling: Souls—leading them to perdition was pure pleasure. I wanted to seduce them. I wanted to make them mine and quench my thirst.

  All at once, something tore me away from those thoughts. Someone was there with me. I turned and found the woman’s soul staring at me, perfectly still. She was frightened—I could feel it. No Witch had corrupted her over the course of her life, though she’d faced Temptation many times.

  Just then, a Subterranean appeared for her. “Hello there,” I said, my voice provocative. My Dakor hissed uneasily.

  “Who are you two? What do you want from me?” the woman asked, trying unsuccessfully to conceal her terror.

  “Come with me. Can’t you see what he did to you?” I showed her her body on the floor, lying in a pool of blood. “I’ll take you to him so you can get your revenge.”

  “Where is he? Where have you taken him?”

  “Come with me and I’ll show you.”

  “Don’t listen to her!” the Subterranean boomed, glaring at me with fiery eyes. The woman, however, was tempted. “If you follow me, I can save you from the darkness. I’ll show you the light and you’ll find peace,” the Subterranean went on.

  “There is no peace without revenge,” I whispered to her. “Deep down, what do you want?”

  “I . . . I want to make him pay,” she murmured to herself. She looked up, determined. “Take me to him.” With those words, her soul was sucked back into her body and regurgitated as a splendid black butterfly.

  Well done, little mortal. There’s a bit of Witch in each of you. I smiled at the Subterranean. “Step aside, ferryman. Her soul is mine.”

  “Her soul isn’t yours to take! I was sent here for her!”

  “Oops, did I ruin your mission?” I goaded him.

  He shot me a piercing look and my eyes burned with poison. I wasn’t afraid of him. Devina and Anya appeared just then and he backed up in fright before disappearing, still furious. My Dakor opened its fangs and devoured the woman’s soul.

  Looking around, my Sisters stepped over the two bodies. “Not bad for her first time,” Devina said. “She even managed to corrupt the woman after she’d been entrusted to a Subterranean. See that, Anya? She’s a fast learner.”

  “Faster than you, it would seem,” Anya returned, repeating the Empress’s words. “Why didn’t you leave after you took the man’s Soul?” she asked me reproachfully.

  “I took the woman’s too. Aren’t you pleased?”

  “Of course, but there was a Subterranean. A battle over Souls is too dangerous for you.”

  “She worked it out just fine,” Devina said in my defense.

  “What’s the problem? I won and I took her Soul.”

  “It could have ended badly.”

  “But it didn’t. The situation was under control.”

  “Only because we showed up.”

  “Then next time stay out of it. That way I can prove you wrong. You’re not my babysitter.”

  “Oh, you’re going to break her heart,” Devina said, smirking. “Babysitting is becoming her favorite pastime. Isn’t it, Anya?” She sent her a look I couldn’t decipher. What were they saying in their minds? And why weren’t they including me in it?

  “I don’t understand why you can’t be proud of me like Devina,” I grumbled.

  Anya came closer. “You’re wrong—I’m very proud of you, really. I care about you more than you can imagine. That’s why I worry about you.” I nodded. I could tell her affection for me was sincere. It wasn’t only because of the Bond. “How do you feel?” she asked.

  “Intoxicated,” I replied.

  “Do you want to go home now? I know how draining the first time can be.”

  The power that had surged through me was fierce, but it hadn’t slaked my thirst—it had intensified it. “Not at all. We’ve only just begun.”

  “Why not just one little glass? Go on, drink it!”

  “Marcos, cut it out. Justin has to drive!” A redheaded girl took the glass out of his hands. She was drunk. “This stuff’s too strong for him. It’s better off in my stomach than his. Otherwise who’s going to take me home?”

  The statement hurt the boy, who had a crush on her. He hated that she was treating him like a chauffeur, a little boy she could put in a corner and take advantage of whenever she liked. He felt left out but didn’t have the courage to do anything about it. I was going to give him that courage.

  I stepped forward, stoking the anger secretly smoldering inside the boy. “She doesn’t think you have the guts to do it. Pick up that glass. Show her you’re brave too. Show her you’re no coward.”

  “Screw it, Sara! Hand me that glass!” Justin knocked the drink back in one gulp. The girl cheered excitedly and dragged him through the crowd.

  “Time to go home, people. Party’s over.” An adult had come into the room. The kids all moaned. “Come on, out you go. Which of you is the designated driver?”

  “That would be me,” Justin replied, slurring his words. That single drink had been enough to dull his senses.

  The kid’s drunk. Maybe I should drive them home myself, the man thought.

  “But the game’s starting soon,” I whispered in his mind.

  He checked the clock and shrugged. Aw, who cares? They’ll work it out. I smiled. The man had potential. Soon I would return to tempt him as well.

  “Justin, I thought you didn’t drink,” said another girl named Melanie.

  “Shhh. I’m fine. Never better.”

  “Maybe we should call a taxi.”

  “I’ll take you. I know the way. Let’s go. See? I can stand on one leg.” They got into the car and I got in with them.

  “Dude, you drive like a little kid,” Marcos teased him.

  I’m not a little kid, he thought.

  “Prove it to him. Go faster. It’ll impress her.” Justin obeyed, blinded by his desire for her. Sara whooped enthusiastically and raised her hands in the air. He turned up the music on the stereo and stepped harder on the accelerator, satisfied.

  “Whoa, dude, now you’re overdoing it,” Marcos complained.

  “C’mon, Justin. Slow down,” Melanie added.

  “What’s wrong with you two? Scared of a little adrenaline?” Sara said.

  “You’re going too fast, for fuck’s sake!” Marcos exclaimed.

  All at once a moose stepped out onto the dark street and Justin slammed on the brakes. The tires squealed across the asphalt as the car jerked to a halt. For a second there was silence, then someone started laughing and the others joined in.

  “I thought we were done for.”

  “Gotta tell you, dude, you’re insane.”

  “Guys,” Melanie murmured in a tiny voice. “The train!”

  “Huh?”

  “The train’s coming!” she cried. “We’re on the tracks! We have to get off them!” The train whistled, its lights coming closer and closer.

  “Drive, Justin!” Marcos shouted. “Get this fucking car moving!”

  “I can’t! It won’t start!” he cried.

  “Let’s get out of here, quick!” I smiled and jammed the locks.

  “They won’t open!”

  “I don’t want to die!” Sara whimpered. Justin grabbed the fire extinguisher from under his seat and smashed his window. He scrambled out of the car and stood staring at the other kids as they tried to get out, then raised his eyes to the train. It was coming closer and closer.

  “Justin, help me!” Melanie screamed. He looked at the train again, gauging the distance.

  “You can’t make it. You’ll die too. Leave her there.”

  Justin stood there for a moment, paralyzed by my Temptation. Then he shook his head and rushed back to get her. Anger grew inside me. I’d lost him. He helped Melanie out and they both fell to the ground as Marcos smashed the other window and pulled himself out as well.

  “Marcos help me! I’m stuck!” Sara pleaded.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered, in tears, his conscience deadened by evil.

  “Marcos!” she shrieked.

  The train plowed into the car, sweeping it away with Sara inside it.

  “Why didn’t you help her?” Justin screamed at him. “She was right next to you! You could have gotten her out!”

  “There wasn’t time!” the frightened boy said.

  “My God . . . She’s dead . . .” Melanie covered her mouth with her hands.

  “Sure there was time. You didn’t help her!”

  “I . . . I’m sorry,” Marcos whispered. “I was afraid of dying.”

  “Don’t apologize,” I whispered. “He was the one driving.”

  “You were the one driving. It’s your fault! We all could have died! I’m telling the cops. I’m telling them everything.”

  “No you’re not,” Justin hissed.

  “Guys, cut it out! What’s wrong with you?! Sara is dead!”

  Down the track, the train was slowly grinding to a halt and we could hear sirens in the distance. Marcos pointed his finger at Justin. “We’re all in deep shit. We’re going to stick together, got it? We need to come up with an explanation.” The other two nodded.

  Anya and Devina materialized beside me. “Having a good Reaping?”

  “I lost him.” I gestured at Justin. “He resisted my Temptation.”

  “It happens,” Anya said.

  Devina went up to Marcos. “In compensation, I see you tarnished him.”

  “Better than nothing,” I said. The purer they were the more fun it was. That taste of the forbidden . . . I’d thought Justin was weak because they’d talked him into drinking so easily. Nevertheless, instead of succumbing to my evil temptation, he’d saved the girl.

  Marcos’s soul, on the other hand, was now tarnished. He could still redeem himself, but we would make sure he was tempted again and, when his time came, one of us would claim him.

  A Subterranean came for the girl. I gazed at him for a long time, fighting the urge to attack him, but I had more urgent matters to think about.

  “Let’s go. We’re done here,” I told my Sisters. I was anxious to begin again.

  I should stay and turn myself in, thought the man in front of me. He’d just killed his girlfriend over nothing.

  “Get out of here,” I whispered in his mind. I smiled, watching him run away. If he’d stayed, maybe he would have had some hope of redemption, but he’d fled. One day he would be mine.

  We’d collected the souls of dozens of mortals, tarnished those of hundreds more, but I could never get enough. My thirst grew with each new conquest, my Dakor was getting stronger, and I felt more alive than I’d ever felt. Entering the minds of mortals was child’s play. They were so easy to manipulate! Only a few—those with the strongest spirits—managed to resist our Temptation. All the others gave in to our lethal whispers. We listened to their thoughts and quickly discovered what tormented them most. Secrets, lies, hidden desires. Evil had a thousand disguises and we assumed them all in our efforts to corrupt the mortals. We leveraged their emotions, their fears, their weaknesses. Some wanted money and some wanted power, no matter the cost. At that point we came into play. Each granted wish was a deal with the devil. We’d amassed First-Echelon Souls, Cowards like Marcos, Egotists, Corrupt Souls, and Lechers. They were the most fun of all.

  “That’s enough for now,” Devina said.

  “No,” I insisted. “I’m not done yet.”

  “It’s time to go back to the Castle. Sophìa will be anxiously awaiting our Reaping.”

  “One more Soul, then we can go back,” I said resolutely. I wasn’t ready yet.

  “Agreed.” Devina gave in.

  We materialized in a luxurious apartment where a party was going on. The noise was deafening and colorful lights chased each other all around the room to the rhythm of the music.

  “Why don’t we have a little fun?” Anya suggested. Appearing in the middle of the crowd so even the mortals could see her, she winked at me, inviting us to follow suit.

  I smiled and turned to Devina. “Finally an idea I like.”

  She, on the other hand, looked vexed. “What are you doing, Anya? We’re exposing ourselves too much.”

  “Relax, Dev. You could really use it,” she shot back wickedly, dancing between two young men.