Laura arrived just in time to see the mess and clean it up.

She found just what she had expected. She was rarely wrong when it came to this sort of thing. There was the shadow magic user, destined to become the pride of this generation. If she didn't die here.

Christina, an ordinary girl who had been granted an extraordinary power.

What connected her to the other wielders of the same magic, in the present and in the past? Had it not been for the fact that she had learned of the existence of the Witch, perhaps she would have dedicated her life to unraveling that mystery, to the same end.

Such a power in the right hands could change everything, after all.

That prodigy was lying on the floor, breathing heavily with one hand on her stomach. Covering a wound that was bleeding heavily and thickly.

And she was being targeted by one of what were technically her men.

One of the survivors, that is.

There was blood everywhere in the dining area, and had it not been for Christina's hand on the wound, she might have easily thought that the blood wasn't hers.

"Thank goodness I got here in time. Put the gun down."

He didn't listen to her. He didn't say anything, didn't even look at her, as if he hadn't noticed she was here.

"I said, put the gun down!"

The soldier finally obeyed her order. She hated that it had taken so long, and that she had had to raise her voice to get him to obey her, how her authority was so fragile. But that was just the way it was. Even though her circumstances were supposed to be different, she had to behave all the time as if she were in enemy territory.

Always insisting, always fighting, to get what they were not willing to give her.

Fighting for every inch of ground and losing ground every second, no matter what she did.

It was exhausting. It was an impossible battle.

But she had no choice. In more ways than one. Even to say that this was the path she had chosen wouldn't be entirely true.

"We owe you obedience and some respect for the position you hold," the soldier said, and then immediately fucking it up as she knew he would. "But don't forget your place. You have already done too much harm. Bringing him here, spoiling everything at the last minute. These girls are nothing but loose ends. We have to kill them and get out of here, before the authorities come down on us."

Christina hadn't come alone.

There was another girl in front of her, still standing, holding a sword. A rapier sword, to be more precise. She was from Sunderland. There was no doubt about it.

When Desmond caught her red handed, she thought all was lost.

But she had managed to escape, and all the pieces were falling into place.

Even pieces she hadn't anticipated, like this one. Amy would be a valuable hostage. A great asset.

This could still go well.

"And that's what we'll do. But not now. You're the one who's forgotten something: what's more important, your life or the mission?

The soldier opened his mouth. But she didn't have the slightest interest in listening to what he had to say.

"Shut up. Don't answer. It's the mission. And these girls are our best chance of getting him to cooperate. If you kill them, that's the end of any hope of getting him to cooperate.

"He doesn't have to cooperate," another soldier interjected.

Ah, if only things were that easy, though it was true that they only needed Desmond temporarily, that once they got their hands on the Witch, they could burn him alive or whatever it took to kill him for real.

"No. But it will make things easier. You know what he did. You all know what he did. If we don't make him stand still, like a good boy, this place will drown in blood before she gets here. And killing him and ending this is not an option. Well, I see compression on your faces. Enough of them."

"You, you and you. Take them, and escort me to his cell."

Christina didn't seem very willing to cooperate. Her partner noticed that, too.

"Christina. For now, at least... listen to her. Don't do anything foolish. Please don't do anything foolish."

"Your friend better listen to the voice of reason. Because, otherwise, I'll punish her by slitting your throat. Not hers. Understood?"

They grabbed Christina between two of them. She was the most seriously wounded, but she was still the most dangerous person. She didn't feel safe with only two soldiers guarding her. But, facing someone like that, she wouldn't feel safe at all even if she had all her men " those who had died today and those who hadn't " on her side.

As she had said, Christina had the power to change the world.

What was a facility like this compared to the whole world, however lofty her plans?

Nothing, of course.

Nothing at all.

Grabbing Amy, the soldier twisted her arms behind her back, causing her to drop her sword. Laura picked it up. It was a tool to make good on her threat. No, her promise.

Before leaving the dining room, Laura looked up for no particular reason and saw that the catwalk had collapsed.

From the wreckage she knew what had happened.

These girls had ambushed them from the top of that catwalk, surely most of them had died even before they knew that the shadow controller was acting from there. Then, upon seeing her, they had thrown a grenade and both had fallen.

The difference was that Christina had been much less lucky. Or perhaps better said, a great deal, but of the bad kind.

The wound wasn't from a bullet. She had landed on a metal rod that had pierced her.

She could see it in the wreckage, wet with the blood of that girl.

Laura reached over to rip it out and take it in her other hand. A mage's blood was good for many things. And the effectiveness depended on the power of that mage, their potential and how refined their skills were.

The blood of a shadow magic user? She didn't know how big a difference it would make, but it would be useful.

How much time had passed?

Not being aware of the passage of time in a situation like this was torture in itself. But what truly killed him was not knowing the condition of his .... his friends.

He was smart enough to realize that Laura wanted them alive, to use them against him, to blackmail and control. Unfortunately, however, he wasn't stupid enough to gain a false sense of security from that.

He wasn't talking about the fact that a woman like Laura would never let them go and that, sooner or later, their lives would become expendable. He wasn't thinking about the future.

His mind was on the present. That for Laura they were vital pieces, but for the soldiers they would only be enemies with whom they were engaged in a battle to the death, until Laura arrived and gave new orders.

He was surprised that she had a position of authority, being from Albion, but Laura had spoken as if there was no reason to doubt that she could control the situation.

Absolute, unwavering confidence. So at least he had no reason to doubt her.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

But even so, before she arrived with her orders, the soldiers might have assassinated them.

And all he could do, trapped here, so weak still, defeated, was hope that wouldn't happen. That everything would be all right. It was enough to drive him crazy.

But everything got worse when the door opened again and he saw them there.

They were accompanied by Laura and three soldiers. Amy was hurt, but Christina was worse. She was bleeding from her stomach and, if it wasn't for those who were holding her, she probably wouldn't be able to stand up. You could tell.

Desmond felt like screaming. But, as much as his heart was roaring, his body was not yet ready to do what it had to do.

Not now, but tonight, tonight, I will kill them. I will kill them all.

"Come on, on the ground," Laura said.

The soldiers threw his friends to the ground without the slightest regard, as if they were garbage bags, then they aimed at their heads.

The way Christina's face twisted in pain, as she fell on her wound... he felt it deep in his soul. As if he too had a wound just like it. As if he was the one who had fallen and could not get up.

"If you hurt them, I'll kill you."

He wanted to say right now. He didn't have the strength to break his chains, but he would find a way if that happened. He would find it.

He hoped Laura would be able to see that truth in his eyes.

"You say that as if you don't have every reason to kill me, no matter what I do from now on. No, Desmond. No more empty threats. You should have had plenty of time to reflect, to realize that it's not going to do you any good. It's time to stop behaving like an instinctively biting dog and start thinking."

Desmond took a deep breath. He let the air out.

"What do you want from me?"

"Ah, that's a good start. But we've already talked about it. You know we have."

"I..."

They wanted their savior, the one they called the Witch.

They wanted him to stab in the back the most important person in his life, the woman who had given him everything, everything, everything, letting her walk into a trap and knowing it.

He had just discovered that she was immortal. But it wasn't an easy decision, anyway. Because, contrary to Laura's childhood dreams that told her that a world without death would be a world without fear of loss, you could lose everything even before you died.

You could die inside, even though your heart was still beating and your lungs were still pumping oxygen.

She couldn't die. But sometimes death was better.

If she was captured, she might be forced to be nothing more than a guinea pig for the rest of her existence. To face an eternity of torture where there was no escape, not physically, not to madness, not even in death, the last card of any desperate human being.

Not to mention that she was a woman for whom words like beautiful, anything one could think of, fell short.

The Empire cursed the people of Albion as demons. And their savior had been called a Witch, Laura, at least, had spoken of her as if she were an abomination.

But, just as the soldiers had no qualms about raping the women of Albion, in fact, they enjoyed it, no matter how much they filled their mouths with those hateful words, they would desire her just the same.

They would use her for fun and then spit on her and call her a witch quite naturally.

As if that was how human beings behaved.

He couldn't think of any worse fate. Just the thought of having to suffer such an existence made him want to vomit, and his eyes filled with tears.

They would simply die.

That was how one could not be afraid of death.

Simply by dying.

That was how one could truly not fear loss. In death and not a second before.

"Desmond. Whatever she wants from you, don't listen to her. She's not worth it. She's going to kill us anyway. But maybe you..."

"Shut up."

Laura kicked her in the head.

Christina narrowed her eyes, grimacing. Surely she wasn't well, surely her head was spinning, but at least she hadn't lost consciousness.

He said that as if they might launch a counterattack at any moment.

Under the circumstances, it mattered little whether Christina was conscious or not. Perhaps it would have been better for her if she had lost consciousness with that kick.

She had asked him not to listen. He had been told they were already dead, essentially.

And he couldn't say she was wrong in her reasoning. So his decision should already be made, right?

Desmond bit his lips.

But no.

That had only made things more difficult for him, not the other way around. On receiving her consent, and the silence with which Amy had responded.... He supposed he felt that if he made the decision to stay loyal to his savior, it would be as if he were killing them with his own hands.

It would have been that way from the beginning, of course.

But before Christina spoke, he might have been able to tell himself that he had had no choice, to bear the guilt. Now things were different.

Now... he didn't know what to do.

He couldn't condemn his savior, but neither could he do this to two people he loved who had come here for him. Risking everything, even though they had no need to do so.

He didn't know what to do, that is, he couldn't do anything. But doing nothing was also a decision. The one that would doom them.

He began to cry. He couldn't help it, as humiliating as it was.

They would die... and not even because he would make a horrendous, tremendously selfish decision, but because he was too weak to decide one or the other.

What embarrassed him was not the hot tears running down his cheeks, but that weakness.

"Are you mourning your loss? Have you made up your mind?" Laura said in a low, but no less mocking tone, speaking as if the two of them were the only people in the room. "Well, let me help you reconsider. Their lives are in my hands. But taking them away from them is far from the worst thing I can do to them."

She was right, of course. She could torture them, make him watch. She could...

"They're young and pretty, so I could, for example, give them to the soldiers. To have a little fun."

Her words chilled the blood in his veins.

He couldn't believe that a woman had said something like that without batting an eyelash. But that was because he was still too innocent, deep down. This woman was an animal who only resembled a human being by chance.

Even though she was an Albanian, even though she had been born with the blessing of magic, she was exactly like the monsters on the other side of the world.

Those demons who thought they were devoting their lives to hunting demons, when the only demon they encountered was in their own reflections.

Christina barely reacted. Amy, however, lost control. Her eyes widened, the sheer terror in her eyes shook his heart. The girl dropped to her knees, supporting herself on the ground with her hands.

"Get down on the ground!" the soldier behind her ordered, still pointing the gun at her head. One bullet and it would have been all over for her. Amy wasn't even armed. She was a mage, so technically she could never be unarmed unless she was killed, but the sword wasn't just for cutting and piercing, it was an important part of her magic. She used it as a conductor. "I said get down!"

Amy did not obey the order, but neither did she do what she had feared: go on the attack. She simply stayed in that position, looking at the ground.

"Let them try it if they dare," Christina said, disdaining the threat. Really, or was it just a carefully constructed facade? "All they'll get is their insides on the outside."

He supposed that was a more effective way of reassuring Amy than telling her to do it. Maybe she had done it just for that reason. In any case, it had no effect.

In that position, Amy's hair covered her face, but he could still see her eyes. He could still see the terror.

She was like a bomb that could explode at any moment.

If they touched her or even got close to her, Amy would start a battle they couldn't win. He was almost certain of that.

The three soldiers were looking at his friends as if they were pieces of meat. Desmond wished he could reach out and gouge the eyes out of all those sons of bitches.

"I see why you're friends," Laura said. "You have a lot in common. Like making such blatantly empty threats. I'm sure, even now, you could kill me and them. But the soldiers waiting behind the door are a different story. You wouldn't get very far. Not in this state. I can do whatever I want to you and we both know it."

Once again, she was right.

Taking a deep breath, Desmond looked up at the ceiling. I don't have a choice. I really don't.

As consolation, it was pretty poor. But it was something.

"You're there, aren't you?" Desmond asked.

Laura turned to him.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm sorry."Desmond ignored her and went on... praying, he supposed was the right word. "Help me. Please help me."

Suddenly, his savior appeared beside him, he first noticed her out of the corner of his eye, then turned his head. Faced with her sweet face and eyes full of kindness, Desmond lost all trace of composure he had been clinging to.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please forgive me."

He sounded like a child and that's exactly what he was. A child seeking forgiveness from his mother.

You don't need to be sorry. I'm on your side, Desmond. And I always will be. He imagined she would respond that way. That's why he'd only felt sadness, not fear.

"But if you do this...."

She knew very well what it entailed. And yet she spoke to him with love in her voice.

What had she done to deserve such a blessing? Ten years of faithful service in no way compensated for such a betrayal. He had decided that he would live by her and for her, hadn't he? That she could use him as she wished.

So he should not even think of his own desires. To do so was a betrayal in itself.

Yet she had forgiven him.

No, he didn't deserve this. What he deserved was a harsh punishment. What he deserved was never to see her again.

I'll manage, as I always have, his savior replied. And the person she would condemn. Even if she could manage, as she had said, that wouldn't change the weight of her decision. That she couldn't go back on, or fix. I'm the person you should be least worried about right now. Tell that woman I'll give her what she wants. We'll meet outside the nearest city.

"You can talk to her," Laura said, slowly and after a while. "Even though our sources say you haven't met once since you formed the contract. What did she tell you?"

That was new, useful, or at least interesting information. But Desmond wasn't in a position to connect the dots.

Not now.

"That she'll give you what you want. That she'll be waiting just outside the nearest town," he repeated.

"How will we find her?"

I will find you, his savior replied, and he repeated it word for word.

The silence lengthened.

"All right. Let 's get going."