Page 13 of Beneath Swan Lake (Deadly Endings #2)

Dima snarls at me, his hand leaving the cloak in a fist. Odette’s screams are sharp in the back of my mind, fueling my actions. He’s utterly careless if he’s willing to risk torturing her in front of an audience like this.

I’m using too much magic. The shadows have their limits, and if I’m not careful I can run out of power and grow too weak to fight until I can rest. But nothing can stop the rage that shoots through me as I listen to the princess screaming behind me.

Dima is unperturbed by my display of power, his blue light the only brightness in a field of black. “Careful, Reaper. You wouldn’t want to cause harm.”

I snarl, glaring at his hand. He makes a mocking little noise before opening his fist, revealing what I already assumed he’s holding. Odette’s severed eye lies in his palm, the iris green instead of gold. I can’t imagine it could be anyone else’s.

Odette cries out again, and gritting my teeth I enclose us in an orb of shadows. It blocks out some of the noise, but more importantly it keeps the two of us locked away from everyone else in the room. If the King and Queen have any sense about them they will run with Odette while Dima is occupied.

“Stealing eyes,” I say, circling my arm over my head. The arrows at my back all lift, and although I prefer the bow I don’t need it to wield the weapons. “Aren’t they the windows to the soul?”

He laughs. “You could say that, Reaper. It allows me to see things I shouldn't. And control those I otherwise don’t have access to.”

“You mean torture,” I correct with a growl.

He shrugs, his dark hair blowing in the wind that flows through the hole he blew through the ceiling. “Doesn’t really matter. Odette is mine to control, and she knows it, too. You won’t hurt me if I can hurt her.”

I glare at him. Whether that’s true or not, Dima is an imminent threat to Swan Lake. He’s too powerful, and he’s playing God, carrying around parts of people and making demands of the King. He’s drunk on power, and the uncontrolled zaps of blue light dancing around us tells me he doesn’t have as much control on his magic as he should right now. One wrong move and we could both be badly hurt, but Dima is the only one at risk of being killed. I’ve already crossed that bridge, and it turned me into the guide.

Holding out my other hand, I meet his eyes. “What are you going to do, Dima? Outside this sphere there are guards ready to kill you. The King will put a bounty on your head now that he knows you’re harming his daughter if you manage to escape. You’ll have to fight to leave the palace, yet you think you’ve won.”

Closing his hand again he tightens his grip, and I can distantly hear Odette’s cries. She sounds like someone finally came to their senses and dragged her out of here. “I control the princess. I will control the throne. I’ve already won.”

Without warning, I drop my arm and let the arrows fly. I don’t send all of my stock at him, but it’s enough to cause fear to enter his gaze and he narrowly dodges two as they shoot across the space. Stone dings off of stone, creating offbeat echoes as the arrows strike the walls behind Dima.

While he’s dodging, I send volley after volley of shadow magic his way. He narrowly deflects, his energy crackling through the dome. Dima is like a fire—burning with intensity, yet capable of raging if left unchecked. I need a way to get close enough to grab Odette’s eye, but if I shadow hop I’ll leave the space around me unprotected and that could be enough time for him to harm someone else.

I just need him to not crush that fucking eye. There are others in Mystica who use magic. Surely someone could figure out how to help: perhaps the magic around could be broken so it could no longer be used against her. It would be a bonus if her eye could be reattached. Either way, I will get it.

She can pay me back later with some answers.

Dima screams with rage, making it obvious that I’m finally getting to him. I lob another surge of shadows at him, forcing him to stumble backward from the force. It’s enough to throw him off balance, and I use the distraction to shadow hop closer - close enough to grab his cloak and raise my hand, ready to deliver the killing blow and be done with this.

He roars, and the familiar feeling of weightlessness settles over me. It’s not the darkness though that sucks me in as I grab his clothes, but the light.

He can bring people with and hop across space.

The realization throws me off. Shadow hopping is unique to Reapers, and until right now I’ve never seen a living person be able to replicate the power. If magic allowed this type of movement, people like the Mad Queen would be able to terrorize the country far too easily. But I’ve never seen Queenie do anything like this, and Dima shouldn’t be able to harness the power.

I can’t tell if Dima expected to be able to bring me along, but we’re only weightless in the light for a few seconds. We drop in the courtyard, and there’s only a moment to take in the surroundings before he’s shooting that damn blue light at me again.

Dropping back into reality as a ride along isn’t something I’m used to. I’ve been able to shadow hop ever since I gained the shadow magic and figured out how to do it. So Dima’s surprise trick gets the best of me, and his glowing fist connects with my gut.

Pain shoots through me, but the strange blue light doesn’t burn like I expected. Reflexively I slip into the shadows after being hit, and the pain vanishes. It’s enough to throw him off balance for a moment, and when he stumbles through me I shift back. It’s a good thing I’ve learned how to keep from bringing people along when I slip into the shadows at will.

It’s not a skill Dima has.

Coughing, I shift backwards away from him and reach for the dagger at my belt. I didn’t collect my arrows in the throne room so I only have a few remaining, and there’s no point using the shadows to create more when I’m quickly depleting my magic. I regain my footing at the same time that he does, spinning back towards me with that wild look in his eyes.

I’m winded from the strike, but the vague pain is already gone. “You won’t be tricking the King anymore after this.”

Dima sneers, and his mask falls away. I can see how his handsome face might create a false sense of security, as if he should be trustworthy and kind. But when a snarl twists his features, the illusion shatters—he becomes cruel, looking more like the ruthless man I encountered in the forest. “You’re no better, Reaper.”

I snort. “You’re the one attacking the royal family. I’m simply defending the peace in this land.”

He shakes his head, and I know he doesn’t buy the lie. I don’t either, and I’m the one that said it. I didn’t have to get into a fight with him. My place is in the shadows helping the dead pass on.

Not defending the princess from an attack.

“It’s a shame,” he continues, blue light sparking from his fingertips. It’s like lightning, and if I wasn't able to fade into the shadows his last strike could prove deadly. He rolls his shoulders and winces, and the wound from the last time we fought must be aching. “I wanted to unlock the secrets of Swan Lake in my own time. Now you’ve forced my hand.”

We all want to know the secrets of the lake. “What, you cannot continue to torture creatures now that the royals are onto you?”

Surprise lights up his face. I wonder what he thought Odette would tell me, if anything at all. “I see the little princess is in your ear spreading lies.”

“No more so than you,” I challenge, and he bares his teeth at me. “If you’re going to lie, Dima, make it believable. You’re holding her eye as blackmail, and that’s a nasty little trick.”

He loses his composure, lobbing the blue light across the courtyard like I do with the shadows. Now that there’s no one behind me to protect, I simply fade into the shadows for a moment before reappearing. If he’s smart and he can hop through space like I can, he’ll do the same.

I twist my fingers, sending the shadows to his knees to knock him down. There’s the distant echo of steps around us, but I refuse to look and give him an opening. Dropping him to the stone ground around the fountain causes his face to hit first, and he aims wide and misses me with the light.

Hopping closer, he doesn’t have time to defend himself when I use my forearm over the back of his neck, sending him into the ground again. He hisses, wrapping an arm around my ankle at the same time I grip the back of his skull.

I phase my legs into the shadows, his hand falling straight through. “Learn to master your power before trying to overthrow a kingdom.”

Forcing him down, I send the shadows out to grab Odette’s eye. That’s my focus. If we have it back, I don’t see what possible control Dima could still have over her. He senses that I’m up to something and cuts between us with his magic, the blue energy causing my sleeve to smoke.

The magic is hot and burning. I close my hand over his, the eye trapped beneath his fingers.

He throws his weight into me, and the blade in my other hand digs into his side. Gasping, his hold loosens, but he still manages to spit out hateful words. “Ask the princess what she had to do to earn her scars. She’s not the innocent little swan you believe her to be.”

I can’t stop the laughter, slamming my hand over his. He keeps his fist balled up, so crushing her eye isn’t on his mind quite yet. If he destroys his link to her, he can’t use her. “Dima, if you think Odette is a little innocent thing, you’ve never gotten to know her.”

His shoulders tighten, and he sneers at me. “Odette is mine.”

“Because you stole parts of her?” I fire back, glaring at his hand.

“It doesn’t matter what you think, shadow boy,” Dima barks, his eyes full of hate. “The crown of Swan Lake is rightfully mine! And everything beneath the crown belongs to me.”

I shift, pushing the blade in deeper to his side, and he is absolutely trying to throw me off. The blade won’t kill him at this angle, but it's going to hurt. When I squeeze his hand, his fist fights to not close too tightly around the eye just like I had expected. I let the shadows tickle his skin and enjoy the flash of horror that dances across his face. “If you dare to mark up something beautiful, the price is always greater.”

Growling, he tries to throw me off. It cuts into anything else I might say, but I think I got the point across. He doesn’t seem to be able to radiate his magic from anywhere but his hands, which is a serious oversight on his part. If he wants to be unstoppable, learning to project magic from any part of your body is imperative.

But it’ll work to my advantage.

It takes more effort than it should to force the shadows beneath him, and I know my magic is growing weak from overuse as I leap out of the way. Dima is thrown into the air with my magic, temporarily destroying his focus. I'm standing at the brink of my limits, barely holding on and I won’t be able to keep up the show of power much longer without rest. Hopping across Mystica is tiring enough. I didn’t plan on arriving just to get into a fight the same day.

Dima spins midair, sending down a rain of blue light that splashes over the grass and stone. I force the shadows above me as a shield, and it’s a good thing too because everywhere the reigning light seems to splatter there’s a sizzling noise. That blue light is more than electric, it’s deadly.

He’s distracted, and I force the shadows to rock across the space between us again. He dodges the first attack and I shadow hop to the side, missing his return strike. We carry on like this for several moments around the courtyard, destroying ancient stone statues as we dodge each other.

I need to hit him and end this. But sucking out his life with a lack of oxygen might cause him to reflexively crush the eye, and I need that. He hasn’t let me get close enough again to try stabbing a second time, and the spot where I nicked him in the side doesn’t seem to be doing enough to slow him down.

“Ask how hard she fought,” he taunts, and I can’t believe he seems to think he has the advantage here. “Ask her how badly it hurt.”

Gritting my teeth, I can feel the shadows surging and fighting within me. This dark magic isn’t usually driven by emotions, just control. And the longer Dima taunts me the less control I have.

He spins and stumbles, and the exhaustion and injuries must be starting to get to him. His movements aren’t as graceful as before. “Ask how she begged me-”

Something about begged gets to me, and I can’t stop myself from holding out both palms, dropping the blade, and forcing as much power as I can at Dima. I’ll blow him through the walls and out of the kingdom if I have to, but he’s not going to tell me how she begged for anything.

He gasps, his body slamming backwards into something. I didn’t aim, I just reacted. So when I come out of the rage-fueled blur a moment later, all I can see is the stone protruding from his chest.

I blink, taking in the scene. Dima hopped us out here, and we circled around enough times he ended up with his back to one of the statues holding a stone sword in the courtyard. It’s nothing fancy, just one of the many stone guards that surround the perimeter as decor but works as protection. The stone sword piercing through Dima’s chest is crimson now, slick with the blood seeping from his wound.

Blinking again, I can see his spirit beginning to rise. Dima’s eyes go from electric blue to a dull gray in one breath. His fists loosen, dropping the eye to the ground, and he makes a gurgling noise as he reaches out to grip the stone tip.

That wasn’t part of the plan, but I’m not complaining. This is just another means to an end. Stepping forward, I nod to him. “Well, wizard, looks like you’ll be in my domain soon enough.”

He tries to sneer, but the expression slides off his face due to the pain. Maybe if Rapunzel was here she could save him, but so far as I know no one else with power like that exists. He coughs, gripping the stone, but there’s nothing to be done. He’s at Death’s door now.

And I’m not feeling particularly charitable.

“You know the great thing about being Death,” I go on, moving to bend down and grab the eye. I use the edges of my cloak, carefully dropping it into an interior pocket when I can hopefully carry it without causing more damage. “I can dig for your secrets even after you die.”

“B-bastard,” he hisses, fists tightening on the stone. I don’t know if he plans to try and break it or pull himself off it, but neither is going to work. He won’t last long, and already the color is draining from his cheeks.

“Hmm.” I cross my arms, waiting for the inevitable. Dima can ignore me in life, but he cannot escape me in Death. No matter how much he hates me, he’ll be drawn to me—bound by forces beyond his will. And while I crave answers, I won’t hesitate to reap him before his soul can splinter. Now, at last, I’ll speak to him without evasion, without games—without him slipping away.

“Raymundo!”

My attention is pulled from the grisly scene when I hear Odette rushing across the courtyard. This is when I see how much damage Dima and I caused from broken trees and statues and the fountain in the center of the courtyard is split down the middle. And through it all, the Swan princess seems to only have eyes for me.

Hopping, I zip to right in front of her. “Your feet. Be careful, Birdie.”

She flaps her arms, reminding me of her bird form, and shoves my chest. “Who cares? Are you all right? What happened to…”

Her voice trails off when she spots Dima behind me, shifting around to see him. I don’t stop her, turning as well to stare. His grip is looser, his eyes duller, but the hate is still lingering on his face.

“You killed him,” she breathes, looking back at me. I don’t know what I expect, but happiness is a surprise when our gazes meet. The hollow space for her missing eye just reminds me of what’s in my pocket, and the first chance I get to be alone with her, we’re talking about that.

The sounds of approaching footsteps fall into the background as I study her, aware that Dima didn’t have the chance to physically touch her but I feel the need to examine her all the same. Dead or alive, he bothered my princess too many times, and I want extra assurance that she’s physically okay.

“What is this?” Leonardo cries, his voice slicing through my focus. The footsteps around us because a symphony, and I’ve ignored the small army that’s approaching mere steps behind the King. I’m a little surprised Odette managed to be the first one out here. “The wizard is dead?”

There’s going to be a lot to explain. I don’t know if the King will care that I killed Dima after his plans to leave the wizard in the dungeon, but spilling blood like this will quickly turn into rumors. I can see servants and staff peering down at the courtyard from windows and behind corners; there’s no hiding this. Odette opens her mouth to respond, and I look back towards the statue. Now there are two Dima’s: the hanging corpse and the ghostly fellow glaring at me. He stares for a moment before looking back up at his body. It will take some time to accept that he died.

Looking back at King Leonardo, I can’t help but fight back a smirk. This isn’t the outcome that I wanted, but it’s the path that fate dragged us down. Schooling my features, I incline my chin to him. “Long live the King, sire.”