Page 25 of Contract Marked (Interdimensional Beings #1)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Erin

I bolted upright in Cal’s bed. Quilts and a thick red comforter had been draped over me, my body toasty warm in contrast to my cheeks and the tip of my nose that was cold to the touch.

Cal crouched by the woodstove, adding more logs to the fire. He could have just snapped his fingers, but something about the way he manually did it made me wonder if he was … nervous. Anxious. I had a bad habit of trying to read people before I really knew them. Look where that got me with Dez.

Fuck, Dez.

I rubbed a hand over my face. “Where’s Saya and Lucy?”

Cal didn’t look at me as if he knew I was awake. “Lucille Owens is back in her world. Saya Suzuki is in my guest bedroom, currently losing her shit.”

I blew out a breath of hot air. “Lucy wanted to go back home?” I didn’t blame her after what happened.

“No, I sent her back.”

“You, what?”

He stood, his white shirt pulled taut across his frame as he stretched and cracked his neck. His dark sweatpants hung low on his hips, and my eyes slid further south before bouncing back up to his face. To his gray eyes. He had to have been the one who saved me from Dez, but did that mean he could also transform? I hadn’t hallucinated when I saw him with horns, right?

“I’m not a daycare. I’d have dropped off the other one, too, if she wasn’t a con-bond slave.” He said it so callously, but Cal had never given me any other reason to think he had any humanity to him. He had been willing to let Lucy die in that arena, after all.

“Are you … do you plan to send Saya back to Dez then?”

He didn’t respond.

I clenched my fists under the blankets. I was still in my tank top and yoga pants; my sneakers were on the floor beside the bed. The only thing I was missing was the silver coin. My best chance to save Megan and myself, gone. Slipped through the cracks of the ground in Dez’s dimension.

“I need to see Saya.” I swung my legs over the side of the bed, about to get up when Cal warped in front of me. He made an intimidating sight with his arms crossed and towering over me. I still hadn’t forgotten the threats he made my first time here.

His stance was wide enough for his knees to brush my outer thighs on either side. “Where did you get a hold of a Sylvain Silver?”

“A what?”

He sighed. “The coin you used at the tournament.”

My mouth opened. At least I had a name for it now. “I have it in a safe spot.” I wasn’t going to tell him I was defenseless.

The corner of his mouth twitched. “You lost it, didn’t you?”

Shit . Well, it wasn’t as if the coin would’ve protected me anyways. It hadn’t helped at all against Dez, who broke through my defenses like Swiss cheese. “No.”

His lips curled into a full-blown smile. “Liar.”

I crossed my arms, trying to match his intimidating presence, but it looked silly, with my neck craned up at almost a ninety-degree angle to meet his gaze. “Why didn’t you tell Dez or the Council about it? I know you saw me use it.”

He arched a dark brow. “You fulfilled your end of the contract, didn’t you?”

I blinked. “Yes, but …”

“I underestimated you when you first told me about the love letters and the photos. I thought that you had seduced Dez, and he had … shared that with you willingly. It wasn’t until I saw you with a Sylvain Silver that I figured out the truth.”

I neglected to tell him that the red door appeared before I used the coin, but that point was sort of moot now.

“It was in your best interest to keep this a secret so I could finish the job,” I said, connecting the dots. “Still doesn’t explain why you wanted to break into Dez’s dimension in the first place.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

I scowled, but Cal’s expression was unreadable. He wasn’t going to tell me, not that any of that mattered right now. I needed to figure out my next step.

“At least let me see Saya.” He didn’t budge. “Please, Cal. I just want to see if she’s okay.”

Cal bent down until his face was inches from mine. “That might’ve worked on Dez, but just so we’re clear, pleading and begging doesn’t work on me.” He tilted his head as if to kiss me, the same silver dagger earring I’d seen him wear at the party swinging toward me. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t be very good at my job.”

He stepped away, and I let out a shaky breath.

“You’ll be staying here until this situation with Dezmandaro blows over. You have his contract mark and he’s already tried to convince the Council to have you legally in his custody as is his right in regards to contracts with Lower Realms’ beings. But you also have mine.” His jaw tightened for a second, the only sliver of emotion he revealed. “However, it’s no secret the Council has a soft spot for Dezmandaro due to his lineage. It’s only a matter of time before he gets what he wants. He always does.”

I definitely wasn’t going to unpack that. “You don’t have to have me here. Why not let Dez just take me back?” The idea of being forced to go back to Dez’s dimension made me break out in a cold sweat. Not that I would make it easy. Even if it was fruitless, I’d fight tooth and nail to stay away from Dez’s wrath.

He stopped at the door and glanced over his shoulder. “How else am I going to let you see your friend?”

My jaw slackened. “Wait, I want—”

The door had already shut behind him with an audible click. What an asshole.

Since I was stuck inside Cal’s bedroom (I had already tried the door and window, but both were locked and conveniently break-proof), I did a lot of snooping, pacing, and reading from the nook of books I discovered beside Cal’s bed, but mostly pacing. If the floor had been made of sand and not wood, Cal would’ve seen the figure eight I’d created with my repetitive steps, like an animal trapped in a cage at the zoo. There hadn’t been an attached bathroom the last time I’d snuck in here, but Cal was at least considerate enough to give me a toilet and a bathtub.

I tried to sleep, but nightmares chased my dreams. Dez with his talons wrapped around my throat as the ground fell apart around us. Others where he had me chained to the bed, fucking me over and over, even as I begged for sleep. But the worst ones were of Megan. I’d finally see her smiling face, pulling her into a long overdue embrace before Dez’s claws would sink into my hair, yanking me away, kicking and crying. Megan would wave goodbye, her footsteps fading as she walked away from me. I’d scream her name every time, but she never looked back, even as Dez dragged me further and further into the darkness, his sinister laugh haunting me even in my waking hours.

No, I avoided sleep as much as I physically could.

It was hard to keep track of time; the only window was above the bed, and it was constantly fogged up, no matter how much I wiped away the condensation from the inside and covered in heaps of snow on the outside. Cal hadn’t returned since the first night, probably to avoid following through on his end of the contract. I thought of ways to communicate to him that would force his hand. Like when I wrote in bold letters that I wanted to see Megan this instant and slipped it under the door for him to see, or periodically would shout out my request in hopes he would hear, unable to refuse per our terms. But Cal never came, and I worried he had left this dimension altogether.

My stomach growled at the gentle knock on the door. Saya entered with a tray of food like she did twice a day. I learned the hard way that only Saya was allowed to enter and leave when I tried slipping out past her smaller frame only to be knocked back flat on my ass by an invisible force field.

Saya set the tray down on the edge of the bed, inches from where I sat crisscrossed. “Good morning, how are you feeling?” she asked, the same question she had asked the past few days.

“Fine,” I lied again. “Where’s Cal?”

“Still missing,” she’d always reply with.

A puffiness rimmed her eyes, and it was obvious she’d been crying, given how red they were. Guilt pricked me like it had every day since I destroyed all remnants of Dez’s former lover, but I didn’t know what to say to make things better.

I remained silent as she took off the lids to the black and red bowls, revealing a steaming bowl of rice, miso soup, and grilled mackerel. I wonder if she cooked the meals herself or if Cal had them pre-prepared.

I left the food untouched and frowned at Saya’s hollow expression. “How are you doing?”

She flinched as if I’d slapped her. “How do you think I’m doing?”

I glanced away, internally wincing at her tone. Saya was definitely more than a little upset with me. Rightfully so.

“You’re right, I shouldn’t have asked—”

As if a dam had burst, one that had been building for days, Saya fisted her hair, eyes wide and feverish, as she shouted, “You ruined everything, you know that?” Tears streamed down her cheeks as she pulled at her chin-length bob.

My face crumpled. “Saya, I—”

“For the first time in my life, things were peaceful . For the first time since I was taken to this forsaken place, I didn’t have to worry about my friends being tortured or my Master beating me to where I could barely walk or speak. My mind had just become my own again. I finally wanted to live again, and you destroyed that!”

I inhaled a shaky breath. “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone—”

“Well, you did!” she screamed.

“I didn’t have a choice!” I volleyed back, the miso soup sloshing onto the bed as I threw up my hands. “I had to do what needed to be done to save my friend!” I hated how I had risked Saya and Lucy’s lives, but I didn’t regret doing what I had to do to save Megan.

“You’re a selfish bitch, Erin.” Saya threw open the door, her mouth twisted in a snarl, an expression I thought I’d never see on her face. “We would’ve been okay if you’d never shown up. This is all your fault!” She slammed the door shut behind her, and I sank my head into my hands.

Saya won’t speak to me again, not after what I did. Lucy was gone, and I didn’t even know if Megan was okay. I was all alone. Again. But unlike all those nights watching TV and eating takeout alone, this time, I felt crushed—as if I had lost something I couldn’t get back.

I cried myself to sleep.

A whole day went by before a knock came on the door.

I’d finished my hundredth lap when I froze. I hadn’t been able to work up an appetite at all, anxiety eating away at my nerves, but my rumbling stomach stated otherwise.

Saya’s head peeked in, her cheeks flushed pink, and her eyes cast downward. She opened her mouth, but I cut her off.

“I’m so sorry,” I started.

She shook her head as she nudged the door open wider, a tray of food in her hands. “No, I should be the one apologizing.” She set the tray down at the foot of the bed before twisting a strand of hair between her fingers. “I didn’t mean to lash out like that. I shouldn’t have called you a selfish …”

A selfish bitch? I mentally flinched in remembrance. “Don’t be sorry. You’re right, what I did …” I sighed. “I was only thinking about myself.” What smelled like cheddar cheese and heavy cream wafted from the silver pot on the tray with fresh bread set beside it, but I ignored it, turning to face Saya.

She wrapped her arms around herself. “No, you weren’t. Like you said, you were thinking about your friend, Megan. You’re far from selfish, Erin. You saved Lucy’s life, and she told me how you saved mine by carrying me away from the crumbling estate.”

“That I caused.” I never told her the details of what happened, and she didn’t ask, which was probably for the best. God forbid Dez charge her as an accomplice and take out his revenge on her, too. “Believe me, if there had been another way …” But had there been? Did I even try? The excuse sounded lame to my ears.

“It’s okay. We’ll figure this out. I miss Lucy and … Rowan, but I’m glad they’re back where they belong. This world only brings pain to our kind.” She looked a lot better than she did yesterday, but grief and a pain I couldn’t begin to imagine would probably haunt her eyes for the rest of her life.

“I promise I’ll find a way to make sure you’re safe, Saya.”

She shook her head in earnest. “No, I’ll be fine. Don’t you dare do anything stupid for my sake.” Her gaze sharpened as if she already sensed what I was thinking. “I know you have two contracts right now. That’s already two too many. Please, just get your friend, finish your contracts, and leave this world while you can.”

I nodded just to ease her worries and sat at the edge of the bed. I took off the silver lid to reveal a canister of broccoli and cheddar cheese soup before taking a spoonful. It was nice and warm, the smell invigorating me.

Saya scrutinized me closer than I’d like. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine.”

“You’re lying.”

The soup churned in my belly. “What do you mean?”

“You don’t seem fine. You have bags beneath your eyes and look like you haven’t slept in weeks.” Concern tied her brows together.

I set the spoon down but kept my fingers wrapped around the bowl as if I could absorb all its warmth. “You’re right, I haven’t been sleeping.”

“Is it because of the nightmares?”

My eyes shot to hers. “How …” I started, then paused. It only made sense to experience night terrors after something so traumatic. “Yes, they’ve been … particularly awful.” I scrunched my face. That was an understatement.

Saya sat next to me. I wasn’t sure if Cal had given her new clothes like myself when I opened the armoire to find jeans and shirts in my size, but she wore the same simple blue dress I’d seen her wear back at Dez’s.

“Do they all involve Dezmandaro in some way?”

I nodded.

“Does it … feel painfully real? Almost as if you don’t know where reality starts and the nightmare ends?”

I nodded again, narrowing my eyes. “Do you know something I don’t?” I remembered Saya being awake the night I fled from Dez’s room, right before everything fell apart. She’d been awake even though it had to be well past the middle of the night. Did she suffer from these nightmares, too?

Saya covered her mouth, tears escaping down the sides of her cheeks. I instantly went to console her, worried I said something wrong, but she shook her head. “I’m sorry this happened to you. I’m so, so sorry.”

Fear curdled my appetite. “What do you mean?”

She swiped the tears from her eyes, clenching my hand as if I’d try to leave. “I had my suspicions, especially when Dezmandaro moved you to his room. You … there …” She closed her eyes and pulled herself together. “When you and Lucy returned that night, there was so much blood, and you were so still. I’d never seen the Master so scared before.”

My breathing grew more rapid. “What did he do?”

“He said the healers had patched you up, that you’d made a swift recovery, but the next time I saw you, I knew. I just knew there was no way a human could have recovered so quickly from the state you were in.” Her thumb rubbed against my palm, reassuring me even as the coldness of the room seeped into my bones.

I knew where this was going but still wanted to deny it. “Maybe it just looked worse than it was.”

“Did any scars disappear? Scars you had before … that evening?”

My nostrils flared, and it felt as if I had been sucker punched. “My ankle. I had a scar on my ankle from where I fell off my bike as a kid. I’ve had it for as long as I can remember, but I noticed it was missing when I woke up. I thought it had to do with the healers or some kind of special medicine this world had …”

She licked her lips. “Well, you’re not entirely wrong.”

“That night,” I whispered, as if saying it out loud made it more real, “when we went drinking on the sailboat, you said your former contractor still haunted your dreams. But these aren’t normal dreams, are they? Is that because … is it because …” I was too scared to finish.

Saya was quiet when she said, “A blood bond can last for years or centuries, depending on how much is given. While it can gift life and accelerated healing properties, it also forges a link between the bonded pair. For some, it can be blissful, empowering, and comforting. In my experience, it’s only brought pain, hatred, and unending torment.”

I shoved the tray of food away, my appetite completely gone, and sunk my head into my hands. “You’re saying … Dez is … he’s inside my head? Could be for years? Centuries ?” Did that mean my life was already extended? That I would outlive Megan and everyone around me? That Dez would continue to haunt my dreams for the rest of my long life? Oh God, no, I didn’t want this. I didn’t want this.

Saya rubbed my back, but the comforting touch was lost on me as my thoughts took a turn for the worse.

“My contractor and tormentor fed me for decades, possibly longer. I’ll never fully escape his voice or his presence in my head for as long as I live, but it’ll be different for you. We don’t know how much blood he gave you or for how long, but I can tell you this: it won’t be forever, Erin.”

I clenched back tears, hating how I was here wallowing in my own self-pity when Saya had gone through much, much worse than I had and still lived that hell. I could handle this. I will handle this . “Is there any way to block him out?”

Saya glanced at bundled quilts, her eyes unfocused. “Not that I know of. Has he only reached out to you in your dreams?”

I nodded.

“Then my guess is the bond isn’t as potent as mine is … or was. He can only reach you when you’re asleep or when your consciousness is weak. For me,” she swallowed, “there was nothing I could do to block him out. He would know when I would try to escape when I would disobey his rules, when anyone tried to help me. My mind was as much my prison as my reality. It was only when Master took me in that his voice began to fade, little by little, to where I only felt his presence in my dreams and in moments of despair and trauma.”

My mind had just become my own again. I finally wanted to live again, and you destroyed that! Saya’s words came back to me, and I hated myself even more now that I knew the full truth behind them.

I rubbed her back, trading places from where she had consoled me earlier. Lucy said Saya had fainted when they escaped the collapsing estate. Was it because after seeing Dez transform, seeing the chaos ensuing around her, it had opened the gates for her previous contractor to enter her mind, torturing her even more? I didn’t ask, and it didn’t matter.

“What … what is his name?”

Saya went still.

“You don’t have to answer; I just …” I just wanted to know who the bastard was so I knew who to kill if I ever saw him.

“Wyll. Wyllhelmin.” She looked me in the eyes. “Don’t do anything reckless, Erin.”

I smiled. “Thank you,” I said. “For opening up to me. For everything.”

Saya returned my smile and pulled me into a tight embrace. “I hope you and Megan can leave this place.”

I squeezed her back. “Me too.” But now I had another goal. I was going to get Saya somewhere safe, even if it killed me. She deserved that much.

Bonus points if I could free her from her former contractor once and for all.

Cal appeared a few days later, right before I was about to lose it. I didn’t know if it was being confined to a room for days on end that did me in or the fact I haven’t been able to get a full night’s sleep without Dez fucking with my head that made me almost jump in bed with insanity.

“I want to see Megan. Now ,” I blurted as soon as he teleported inside. I’d been on my two-hundredth figure-eight lap when I bumped into his chest.

He was dressed in a black suit with a maroon collared shirt underneath. It was nothing like his usual shirt and jeans as if he and Dez had done a clothing swap. Cal also came with a chip on his shoulder.

“Yes, I’ll bring you to see your precious friend.” He ran a hand through his hair, pulling a few strands loose from his pulled-back bun. “You Lower Realms’ beings aren’t worth all this trouble.”

Maybe I’d already lost it because I never would’ve stabbed a finger at Cal’s chest, let alone raise my voice if I’d been thinking rationally. “How dare you say that when you left me in this room to rot for who knows how long. I’ve held up my end of the contract; God forbid I expect you to have the decency to hold up your end.”

My back slammed against the armoire; both my wrists locked in Cal’s grasp above my head. It happened so fast I didn’t have time to fight back.

His eyes were as hard as steel, the weight of his body bruising me from head-to-toe. “I put you in this room to protect you. Do you think Tatianna has conveniently forgotten your little scandal at her arena? She didn’t appreciate being made a fool of, especially in front of the Council. If I hadn’t shielded your presence in this room, she’d have slit your throat by now.”

I blinked. Wait, but Tatianna would have to get past Cal’s barriers first, right? Unless she has special access to his dimension, but then why was that? I had so many questions, but I wisely kept my mouth shut this time.

“I would have been back sooner if it wasn’t for Dezmandaro being an absolute pain in the ass.” He clenched his jaw. “If it weren’t for me, you’d be stuck with him right now, and I can tell you it wouldn’t be as nice as your first visit.”

I pinched my eyes closed, horror skating through me. If Dez got his hands on me … I’ve seen what he would do through the nightmares. “Thank you. You could have just told me all that in the first place.”

Expecting the conversation to be over, I squirmed and flinched when his grip tightened.

He leaned close enough that I was sure he could hear my pounding heart. “And you could have just told me how you entered my dimension in the first place.”

My cheeks warmed, not knowing how to respond to that.

I gasped when he squeezed my wrists harder, feeling on the verge of snapping. “I’m sorry!” I blurted, yanking fruitlessly against his grasp.

He kept his hold, and tears gathered in my eyes from the pain. His pupils dilated, the corner of his mouth tilting as his gaze trailed slowly down my body.

“Cal—”

He suddenly released me, and I snatched my wrists back, rubbing the tender red marks. Bastard .

His gaze returned to my face and lingered for a moment, eyes narrowing, before he opened the door. “I’ll take you to Megan.”

I trailed after him, finally leaving the confines of his bedroom, but something that Cal said didn’t add up. If he’d just let Tatianna kill me, he wouldn’t have to be fighting with Dez or taking me to see Megan in the first place. He had already gotten what he wanted from me, so why protect me at all?

I’m sure there was a motive somewhere I missed, but I was far too exhausted. I’ll figure it out later.