Page 34 of Contract Marked (Interdimensional Beings #1)

Erin

The next few days seemed surreal. Almost like reverse culture shock after being away for so long. Every day, I left my apartment expecting to see autumn leaves or the world shifting beneath my feet. Every face I passed, I scrutinized, looking for the unnaturalness that would prove they weren’t human, as I purchased a new phone, bought groceries, and applied for new jobs.

At night, it was worse. Cal and Dez haunted my dreams, but I couldn’t tell if it was deliberate or if my own mind was giving me nightmares. Every shadow I thought was Wyll, who had come back to life to finish the job. My leg would flare up in pain as if my body couldn’t tell the difference between the present and the past, and I don’t think I slept at all the first two nights back.

Unlike Megan, I didn’t have anyone to call to let them know I was okay. I would’ve called my job, but since I was already fired due to my extended absence without notice (I couldn’t really say I was kidnapped by an otherworldly being), there was no need. At least Megan still called to check on me, letting me know how Saya and the other girl were doing at her mother’s place. I asked Megan if anything seemed strange or off about the mysterious purple-haired girl, but she hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary.

I placed salt around the house in hopes it would ward Cal off, despite Llewyn saying that wouldn’t work against him. I had to try. I gave Saya the coin, telling her to hide it. The Sylvain Silver still didn’t work, but I hoped we’d figure it out down the road in order to return the purple-haired girl back home. And secretly, I hoped to reunite Saya with Rowan, wherever he was.

A month passed by before I knew it. I never went to the doctor’s, much to Megan’s aggravation. I knew they’d ask too many questions, and now that I was living off my savings, I couldn’t afford a medical bill. Besides, my leg had healed up on its own, aside from a slight limp that could be from being stabbed. Twice. Or my previously broken ankle flaring up again.

Cal’s dagger had disappeared the day after we arrived back on Earth. Not that I wanted a deadly weapon on me anyways, but it made me more nervous. Would Cal still show up, even after all this time? We had our contract, but did he really need me to fulfill it? Would it be too much to hope that he would let me off the hook and let me live my life in peace now?

As the days went on, I hoped more and more that Cal and Dez had forgotten about me and that my life could go back to the way it was. My dreams started to return to normal. Aside from the occasional trauma-driven nightmare, I managed to get a decent night’s sleep here and there.

I had a couple interviews lined up and a date with Megan to visit our favorite dive bar on Saturday, just the two of us. She’d dropped most of her ‘friends’ and broken it off with the guy she had been seeing prior to leaving this world.

Megan’s mom still didn’t know the full story of where we went, coming up with a last-minute lie about another extended trip we decided to take. Neither her mom or the cops had bought it, but we didn’t dare tell them the truth. It turned out it had been her mom rummaging through the drawers of my apartment when we both disappeared. I forgot I’d given her a key when Megan and I had left for Europe for our backpacking trip awhile back.

Saya came over a few times. Megan drove her over to my complex, and all of us would grab brunch or do a movie night together. Saya adjusted surprisingly well, but considering how much the other realm shifted and warped depending on the being’s mood, the earthly realm must have been no big deal. She didn’t mention Wyll or what happened, and I didn’t either. I knew that would be a conversation we’d have far down the road, but we were both still recovering. Especially Saya, whose eyes still looked haunted by her past sins. I don’t think she’d ever escape from it, but I hoped.

One day, the purple-haired girl disappeared. We went out and looked for her, but found no sign of her or of why she had left.

I returned to my apartment after dropping off Saya, pulling my keys out of my purse with one earbud in, and jamming out to an alternative rock playlist. It was weird driving again, along with so many other things I had taken for granted. I already slipped back into my usual routine of job hunting, cooking for one, grocery shopping, and making weekly trips to Megan’s place. All in between glasses of wine, and picking up dirty piles of laundry I still insisted on leaving around my house. I snuggled back into my usual comfort zone like a warm blanket I’ve had since childhood. Yet, my body still expected more, as if I’d finally learned to fly and was being shoved back into a cage.

I shook my head. This is what you want , I told myself. I’ve had enough ‘adventure’ to last a lifetime.

I unlocked the door to my dark apartment, the sun setting earlier and earlier as we approached winter, and fumbled for the light switch.

The hallway light buzzed on overhead, and I sighed in relief to find it empty. Even after a month of seemingly normal human life, a part of me still feared Cal would show up. I hated that another part of me hoped he would.

No, you don’t , I chided myself for having those ridiculous thoughts. If I wasn’t waiting for another job, I’d have already scheduled an appointment with my therapist about these exact desires. Oh well, my mental health will just have to suffer in the meantime.

I set my purse down on the counter and poured myself a glass of wine. I switched my music over to play from my phone speakers and sang along, pulling out leftover pasta to heat up. Pasta in one hand, a glass of wine in the other, I bumped the fridge door closed with my hip and turned around.

Both the pasta and my glass of wine shattered across the floor.

Cal stood in the middle of my living room, dressed all in black, his dagger dripping with blood. He teased the tip of the blade with his finger, a slow smile spreading across his face. “Long time no see, Erin.”

“No … no, you can’t be here.” I stared in horror, my skin prickling from the sudden drop in temperature. The smell of burning smoke overrode my pine plug-in freshener. Even though my mind wasn’t happy to see him, my heart raced with excitement.

He stalked closer, and I backed into the fridge. My eyes flicked to the front door I hadn’t locked yet. Would it be possible to leave before he reached me? Did he still have the same powers here?

“We have a contract, Erin. I told you to be careful what you wished for.”

I turned to reach for the doorknob—and ran face-first into Cal’s hard chest, who teleported in front of the door. I gasped, backpedaling over the spilled wine and pasta now staining my kitchen tile. My only exit was now blocked off.

“I want to renegotiate,” I demanded.

“I don’t think so. You should have thought of that well before you accepted my terms.” He still played with the tip of his dagger, the blood sliding down its length onto the floor, as if he’d just killed someone before coming here.

I froze.

“Did you … did you kill Llewyn?” I backed into my living room as if the distance was going to save me. Damn it, I didn’t think he’d show up. I didn’t think, after all this time, he’d actually follow through. Clearly, the salt didn’t work.

He shrugged. “Perhaps, perhaps not.”

“You’re an asshole.”

“I’ve told you before, I’ve never claimed to be anything else.”

I ran my hands through my hair, trying not to rip out the strands. “I want to renegotiate, Cal.”

“No.” His eyes flashed. “But you can always refuse.”

I balled my hands into fists. “It’s the same damn thing!” I promised him my mind, body, and soul for the rest of my life in exchange for his dagger for a limited time. It was a horrible deal, one I had fought tooth and nail for, but as Cal said, what could I possibly offer in exchange for the only weapon used to obliterate another being? The only thing I had left was me. Everything I was. Everything I am. Now, it all belonged to Cal.

And I’d do it all again to save Saya, to destroy that vile being, Wyll, for good.

“What use am I to you, anyway?” I continued to back away, even as he remained by my apartment door. “You said it yourself: what could a weak Lower Realms’ being like me even offer?” I no longer had a contract with Dez. It couldn’t be for information or for destroying Dez’s dimension from the inside, as if Dez would let that happen twice.

“I told you there were checks and balances. You, Erin, are Dezmandaro’s. He might hold my leash now, but I hold something far greater.” His eyes darkened. “You.”

Checks and balances? His leash? Why did that sound familiar?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. My contract with Dez is over. He’ll get over it. He’s probably already forgotten all about me.”

Cal’s laugh was hollow. “If you only knew the half of it.”

I gritted my teeth, even as fear coiled around my stomach. The spilled wine looked a lot like blood, and images of my leg drenched in it from where Wyll had stabbed me paired too well with the same dagger Cal held, still wet from his kill. It made me shake so badly my teeth rattled.

“Why now?” Why let me hope things were normal after all this time, that I could’ve resumed my regular life? “What’s the point?”

My back ran into something hard and hot, talons closing around my waist from behind. Ice skated down my spine.

His words brushed my ear. “I told you, love. When you finally feel safe, when you finally feel free, I’ll be there. I’ll be there to rip all of that away from you.”

Dez.

I jerked from his grasp when an unbearable pressure rained down on my shoulders. I screamed, clasping my head as Dez’s scaled arms squeezed my torso, keeping me from collapsing.

“You won’t escape me a second time, Erin.” Dez’s grip tightened, the pressure building until my windows cracked, crashing open.

“Enough, Dez.” Cal’s leather boots paused in front of me, but it was hard to concentrate. “Remember our deal.”

Deal? They made a deal? They were finally the best of buddies, and of course, it was at my expense.

Cal’s cool hand brushed my cheek. The pressure evaporated, and I swallowed a whimper, my head pounding.

“How … the trial … you didn’t win … it’s against the laws,” I managed to get out through gasps of air.

My legs were swept out from under me, and Dez’s monstrous arms and talons cradled me close to his chest, just tight enough so I couldn’t move. It was hard to avoid his gaze, those bright glowing blue eyes capturing my full attention.

His pupils narrowed to slits, his smile showing a set of sharp fangs. “I am the law now, sweetheart.”

My mouth fell open. No … no, this couldn’t be happening.

Cal framed me on the other side, his steel gaze meeting mine. “Time to go home, Erin.”

To be continued …