“Then you know what you’re risking if you don’t cooperate,” Simon replied.

  “Tell me what she said,” I growled as the anger inside me grew.

  “‘He himself will beg me to transform her.’” I punched the fuselage, overcome with rage, and left a dent in it.

  “Evan, calm down. We were playing with the devil. What did you expect?” Simon asked. “It was obvious she didn’t want to let her get away.”

  “What happened after that?”

  “Use your imagination.” The Hunter stared at me, sneering.

  It was Simon who deduced the answer: “After using the Claw to bring Gemma back to life, Sophìa must have given him a new mission. So she gave him the Claw to get rid of us. She knew we would never give up. Did I guess correctly?”

  Absolon looked at me. “Why are ye chasing after her so relentlessly? She’s one of them now.”

  “She’s my wife,” I roared, furious.

  He snorted. “Ye fight so fervently for her when your ‘wife’ does naught but betray ye with other men.”

  “Are we still talking about me or are we talking about you now?” I said to provoke him. Once he became a Subterranean, Absolon had slain his wife Tamaya before she could transform into a Witch, publicly humiliating her for betraying him.

  He looked at me and smiled. “I wager she’s already doing it.” I grabbed him by the throat and squeezed.

  “Evan, we’re wasting time,” my brother reminded me.

  I stared at Absolon for a long moment, trying to calm my nerves. “I’m going to bring her back.”

  I let go of him and he slid down and crumpled to the ground, his body as dry as stone. “Did ye not hear what I said? Evil has darkened her soul. ’Tis an irreversible curse. There’s no hope for her. A Daughter of Lilith, she is,” he concluded with a triumphant laugh.

  My good humor had run out. I planted my foot on his shoulder and kicked, smashing his head against the plane. “She’s coming back to me.” Fists clenched, I turned to Anya. “We have to let her know it was Sophìa who plotted her death.”

  “She’ll never believe you,” she replied bleakly. “Besides, she wouldn’t care. Sophìa’s power over her is very strong. Gemma was forged by her venom. She was reborn from her. The Hunter is right: Gemma’s soul is an extension of the Empress’s. There’s no way to bring her back. I’m sorry.”

  “Gemma’s soul belongs only to me,” I hissed.

  Anya hung her head, unable to reply. She wanted to believe me but couldn’t. “What should we do with him?” she asked after a moment.

  “Let’s lock him up in the dungeon,” Simon replied. “He’ll be safe there.”

  “Now that we’ve captured him, nothing will keep me from seeing Gemma again.”

  “You’re forgetting Devina,” Anya said. “Gemma trusts her too much. The situation is spiraling out of control.”

  “What about you? Will you help me talk to her again?” Sometimes not even Ginevra could hear Gemma. We needed all the help we could get.

  “I already am. I was the one who made sure she materialized at the party. From now on I’ll let you know whenever she returns to Earth. I’m sorry, that’s the best I can do.”

  “It’s already a lot.” I took the ring and studied it. The Claw was as sharp as a panther’s and as black as carbonado. I cast one last look at the Hunter. “We’ll keep this.” I pressed the little button in the metal and the blade retracted. I tossed it to Simon. “Later on we’ll figure out what to do with you.” I raised my foot and kicked him in the face again. He fell to the ground, his eyes wide open, as Anya used her powers on him until she’d petrified even his face.

  The Hunter had fallen into his own trap.

  MIND AND SOUL

  I was reclining on red cushions in the Hall of Perversions while my Mizhyas massaged my body with hot stones. My mind, however, was elsewhere, trapped in the eyes of ice of that Subterranean. Evan. Their color was the same as the other Children of Eve, yet a different sparkle animated them.

  You have found your Champion. Sophìa’s words continued to whirl in my head. I had witnessed dozens of Opalions and some had even been held in my honor after I’d won the Hunt, though I still hadn’t found a worthy Champion. But now I wouldn’t give up until I’d claimed Evan, w;hether he liked it or not. I would make him my prisoner and lock him up in the dungeons, if need be. Sooner or later I would bend him to my will. The fact that I was challenging Devina for him would make everything more exciting.

  My maidservants stopped and I opened my eyes to find out why. Devina had shooed them away and was standing next to me, together with two bare-chested Subterraneans wearing only the standard leather pants of claimed Executioners. All at once her black outfit changed, transforming into a long skirt in white and gold. A delicate necklace dangled to her bare abdomen and her breasts were covered only by a thin strip of fabric the same color as her skirt.

  “Did you come to make me change my mind or to remind me how dangerous Evan is?”

  “Nothing of the sort. I thought our challenge should be celebrated with a little party just for us.” She gestured to the two Subterraneans, who began to massage my body. I closed my eyes, moaning with pleasure. Their hands were warm and strong—nothing like the maidservants’ small, cold ones.

  “What do you say we have a little fun? You did well today on Recon. You deserve it.” Devina lay beside me and the two men admired her. One of them had blond hair tied up in a ponytail, the other short dark hair and a scar along his cheekbone. Devina spread her legs, inviting the blond Executioner to come forward, and he began to massage her hips. I took a closer look and for the first time noticed that the two were part of our most recent catch. I had claimed one of them myself, and he would obey my every order. He would do anything to give me pleasure . . . and ask for nothing in return. They’d become our love slaves, like all the other claimed Executioners. Once they succumbed we entered their minds and their souls, and all they wanted to do was please us. Only Champions had special privileges.

  I pushed my hair to one side and allowed him to caress my back. His movements were slow, his hands rough and exciting. Devina ran her sharp fingernail down her chest, making a rivulet of blood seep out. He sank his head between her breasts to lick it and she closed her eyes, aroused.

  “Thanks for the peace offering,” I told Devina, though he wouldn’t have been my first choice. We had also taken eleven prisoners, and I definitely would have preferred one of them to a claimed Subterranean. It would have been more exciting to bend him to my will.

  No, said a little voice inside me. Only one of them could quench my thirst. Up until then, I’d never paid much attention to the Subterraneans. Though Devina had offered me the most intrepid of her warriors as a gift, I always ended up tiring of them and killing them before they got too close. None of them could excite me. The truth was that the Children of Eve left me bored. I preferred action, going into battle, fighting . . . stealing mortals’ souls. That was what I found exciting. To Devina, sex was an obsession. She always said lust was the sweetest of sins. I, instead, was always focused on the Bond, on the Reaping, on the Hunt. On Sophìa. One of my greatest wishes was to please her. The biggest challenge of all was to become her Specter. Nothing mattered more to me, and one day I would reach my goal. However, now that I had chosen my Champion I was beginning to understand Devina’s lustful desires. I wanted to see him kneeling in front of me, feel his mouth between my legs as his eyes gazed at me, full of desire.

  The Executioner with the scar kissed my shoulder and I closed my eyes, aroused by the pictures in my mind. When I spread my legs, his hands slid up to massage my thighs. He took my foot and I watched him unlace my boot, but when he raised his eyes to mine, the spell broke. I rested my heel on his chest and shoved him away, anger growing inside me. That Subterranean was attractive, but he wasn’t him.

  “What a waste of time,” I grumbled, standing up.

  “Where are you going?” Devina exclaimed, sounding annoyed.

  “You take him. I’m going to look for something that really amuses me.”

  Just then, Anya appeared. “Sophìa wishes to speak to you in private,” she told Devina.

  “I’ll go later. Can’t you see I’m busy?” she answered, intoxicated by the attentions of the Subterraneans, who were now both focused on her. “In fact, why don’t you join me? These two are new. Let’s teach them a little about our customs. They’re fast learners.”

  “The Empress doesn’t like to be kept waiting, and she said she wanted to see you at once,” Anya insisted sternly. The looks she was giving Devina were more irritated than usual.

  “A little R and R would do you good, Sister,” Devina goaded her. “Are you jealous because I didn’t offer them to you first?”

  “You just want her to be like you,” Anya said accusingly.

  Devina shot her a piercing look. “She already is like me.” Her lips spread into a sneer.

  “Stop talking about me like I’m not here,” I put in. “I’m no one’s trophy. I’m not like anyone. I’m just myself. Accept it, both of you.”

  “She’s the one who needs to accept it, given that she keeps bringing you her Soldiers,” Anya said.

  “They’re a gift. She should appreciate it,” Devina retorted.

  “You just want her to lose her purity and betray him. Don’t think I don’t realize that.”

  Devina laughed. “Are you listening to yourself? She’s a Witch, Anya.”

  “That doesn’t mean she can’t be herself too.”

  “What you’re talking about no longer exists. It’s a dead body in a forest. It’s the past. We’re her future. All this is in her nature.”

  “And he’s in her soul,” Anya said.

  My eyes went to them. What were they talking about?

  “Her soul belongs only to Sophìa now. She was reborn from her venom,” Devina replied, sneering. “Nothing can change how things are.”

  “Why is it so important that it was Sophìa who transformed me?” I asked them. “All that matters to me is my life here with you. My past existence, before I was bitten, is of no importance to me now.”

  Devina smiled. “Forgive her, Gemma. Anya likes to brood over insignificant problems. She should learn to relax,” she said, returning to the attentions of the two Subterraneans.

  “Do as you like.” Anya turned her back on her.

  I followed her out of the room. “Anya, can I talk to you?”

  She looked at me for a long moment and nodded. “First let’s find someplace quieter.” She took me by the hand and the entrance to the Hall of Perversions disappeared. We materialized in an abandoned wing of the Castle. I had been there only once before, during my first days there.

  The large double doors opened with a creak and closed behind us, sealing us inside. We all called it the Chamber of Enchantments, not because it had powers but because it was where we stored all the magical objects created over the centuries to satisfy mortals’ whims. For Witches, making deals with them was an irresistible pastime. They would grant mortals wishes . . . in exchange for their souls. Over the centuries, they had created all sorts of magical contraptions to amuse themselves, many of which were collected in that room. It was a giant circular grotto with a large oval table in black stone in its center, illuminated by a skylight in the ceiling. Energy vibrated on all its walls, which were full of niches carved to order to accommodate the various devices. There were objects that slowed time or sped it up and others that commanded the forces of the sky and earth: staffs that brought rain, stones that invoked the benefits of the sun and moon or controlled the wind, amulets that tricked the light, making whoever wore them invisible, not to mention enchanted weapons capable of annihilating armies of soldiers: swords, war hammers, spears and shields . . .

  “Look, this is one of Devina’s favorites: a Mirror of Shame.” I looked at it, curious. “It not only shows one’s reflection but delves into the heart of the person looking into it and lays bare their sins. Some mortals have used it to accuse their adversaries, others to save their own lives . . . or to get out of trouble.”

  “Extortion is a delicious form of wickedness,” I replied, instantly grasping her allusion.

  “This, on the other hand, is its twin: my favorite.”

  “What does it do?”

  “It’s the Mirror of Courage. It shows people the part of themselves they’re keeping hidden. The one they’d really like to be. Some Souls lose themselves to the desire to be what they see reflected in it. Certain mortals might stray because of their longing for what they’ve seen. The weakest ones even go insane.”

  “I prefer the first mirror. It’s more fun,” I said as we made our way through the room. “What’s that one up there?” I asked Anya, drawn to an object that sparkled high above. I jumped onto the wall and climbed almost all the way to the top, where I grabbed it and leapt down, landing in front of my Sister.

  “That’s a Soul Sphere.”

  I studied the sphere. It was sparkly, created with a myriad of carbonado prisms. “What does it do, predict the future?”

  Anya laughed. “No one can predict the future—it’s the result of millions of decisions. Choices are the future.”

  “Not even Sophìa can?” I asked. I couldn’t believe there was a limit to the Empress’s powers.

  “I can’t answer that, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she could. She’s the queen of the underworld, after all.”

  “So what is the sphere’s power?” I asked.

  “It’s the key to Nirvana, a transcendent world suspended between our worlds.”

  “Does it really exist?”

  “Only in the mind of he who finds it. But that’s not all.” Anya took the sphere from my hands and held it in front of her face, turning it slowly. “This sphere can connect the mind of whoever possesses it to that of anyone she desires, creating a path where the two Souls unite. It transcends their bodies, leaving their spirits free to follow their desires. To find peace. Soul and mind in a world all their own.”

  “Isn’t Nirvana a state without passion or desires?”

  “Not without, but above. It’s the achievement of desires. It’s an otherwise unreachable state of inner peace. It’s pure ecstasy.”

  “If one of us infused that kind of power in this sphere to satisfy the desires of a few mortals, does that mean we have it inside ourselves too?”

  “No. Sophìa made this sphere. It’s one of the few objects she personally forged for men. We Sisters are strong, but she has powers beyond whatever you could possibly imagine. None of us has ever been able to connect to someone’s soul like that.”

  “Do you think I could keep it?”

  “No, I’m sorry. Sophìa’s very jealous of her toys. You can ask her permission to use it, if you like. She’d probably let you.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I was just curious.”

  “Did you want to talk to me about Ginevra?” she asked point-blank.

  “Huh?” I replied, my eyes still captivated by the energy the sphere was emanating.

  “You said you wanted to talk to me.”

  There was so much I had to ask her. Anya was a trusted Sister. She might have been the wisest among us, but she also had a very strong spirit: she was one of the few who could stand up to Devina. Plus, Sophìa completely trusted her and her decisions. I couldn’t choose a better confidant.

  “I saw her,” I explained, a knot in my stomach. “I ran into Ginevra and felt both happiness and sadness.”

  “I know,” Anya said, her face full of sorrow.

  “So basically, she’s our Sister. How can she refuse to stay here with us? What happened to her? Why did Sophìa banish her?”

  “For the Empress it was the hardest decision, but it was either that or death. At first she’d sentenced her to die.”

  “You were the one who changed her mind, I’ll bet.” Anya smiled, returning to that memory. “I don’t understand. I read the suffering in her mind. She felt the Bond uniting us too, so why is she acting this way? This is her realm! Her place is here, with us. Maybe if I talked to Sophìa I could convince her to let her come back.”

  “Even if you convinced Sophìa, Ginevra would never want to. She chose to leave us . . . so she could live with a Subterranean.”

  “What?! You mean she betrayed us to be with an enemy? Did she lose her mind?”

  “Sophìa was deeply disappointed by her behavior. For her, the Bond is the most important thing there is.”

  “I understand. It is for me too.”

  “However, there’s a bond that’s even stronger, if you have the good fortune to experience it.”

  “What are you talking about? That’s absurd.”

  “Love. God gave Sophìa the Bond with her Sisters, but because she hadn’t returned His feelings for her, He couldn’t allow her to feel toward others an emotion that surpassed the power of true love.”

  “You’ve experienced it,” I murmured, reading the story Anya had hidden away in her mind.

  “That’s not important any more.” Though she turned away to escape my eyes, I caught her wiping a tear from her cheek.

  “You’re right,” I said, trying to reassure her. “The past doesn’t matter.”

  “That’s not always true,” she told me. “Sometimes the past can help us understand who we really are.”

  “It’s true for me. I know who I am. I know what I want and how to get it. I don’t care about the past. Only together with all of you does my life have meaning. I’ll never understand how Ginevra could have made that decision.” Anya looked down sadly. “You and Devina have been arguing a lot lately. Sometimes I have the impression it’s because of me. Tell me why.”

  “Nothing I could tell you would change anything. You were created by Sophìa. Her venom runs through your veins. You belong to her. Besides, I’m forbidden to even think about certain things. Only you can probe inside yourself.”

  “Why would you want to change anything?”