Free Two Halves Series by Marta Szemik Page A

been blinded by Xela’s charms.
    The glow faded from his palms. In a moment, the remaining spirits would be released.
    Aseret turned his attention to my wrist.
    Mira, where are you? I need you.
    The sphere began imprinting, burning itself into my flesh. Then it stopped, and faded into nothingness.
    I looked at Aseret in confusion. He was trying to hide his disappointment.
    Why did the imprint stop? The glow under my feet disappeared. I took a step back.
    “You have nothing to fearrr, Xander. It will only take a moment,” the demon lord explained.
    I couldn’t be bound by the light while being marked—that would imply force. My marking had to be done of my own free will.
    “Xander, don’t move.” Mira’s voice sounded in my head.
    My gaze slid across the hall, to the left. The air there swirled, lifting the dusting of soil from the rocky floor and twirling it like a newborn tornado. My sister appeared—alone.
    “Ahh, two for the prrrice of one.” Aseret laughed, but his joy diminished when the blue light reappeared at my feet. “Take it off!” he yelled, but his demons only looked back at him, puzzled.
    Eric now stood on the other side of the hall, palms up, balancing blue spheres of light. New hope flared in my chest. Aseret’s plans weren’t going the way he’d hoped.
    “You’re meddling in my businesss, benderrr!” Aseret hissed at Eric, his words harsh despite coming out at a snail’s pace.
    “ You are my business, Aseret. Have you forgotten I’m an evil-bender?” Eric smirked.
    “Bend elsewhere, not in my underworld!” Aseret’s flat nose twitched as he floated backward.
    “It’s not your underworld, you hypocrite! Need I remind you what the underworld was supposed to be used for?”
    “I remember,” Aseret snapped. “That has changed—and it will soon be changed forever.” He looked down at the crevice into the hereafter.
    “It’s time you’re reminded of who we are!” Eric’s lifted his chin, and the fleshy spikes on his neck lengthened.
    “Xander, don’t do it.” Xela’s familiar voice came from a new body I no longer felt a connection to. “I will be bound here forever.”
    My eardrums heard sizzling acid, not her sugar-coated plea. “You are no longer part of me,” I grated through clenched teeth. My body yearned for my black witch, but I knew I would never get her back. I was furious with Xela—this Xela, not the old one. My instincts warned me that my witch’s soul had been changed and was now controlled by a foreign influence. The anger bubbled in my veins. Ready to jump at Aseret’s throat, I bent my knees, but the blue light under my feet held me still.
    Aseret floated closer to his seekers.
    “Control yourself, Xander. We need to bind Aseret to the underworld. You’re still vulnerable,” my sister warned as she stepped up beside me. Eric wiggled between us, his palms balancing the fiery balls of blue sparks. The light holding me in one spot disappeared.
    “You wouldn’t dare, benderrr!” Aseret hissed again, his zombie seekers closing in on all sides.
    “Don’t pay attention to them. They won’t hurt us,” said Eric.
    “They won’t? How?” I asked.
    “The keepers will protect us.”
    Aseret’s face sagged, and the strain to maintain his composure showed in his eyes as they swung from right to left, looking for the keepers. “Thisss is not a balanced fight!” Aseret growled.
    “Actually, it is balanced now.” My father’s voice echoed down a staircase that ran up a side wall. He stood before the velvet curtains covering an entry at its top. Gabriel and Drake flanked him, their arms outstretched. A thin beam of transparent light flowed from their hands toward us. The magical energy formed a shield around us, protecting us from the seekers.
    “It’s time you learned how to obey the rules of this world,” the three keepers said in unison.
    I had never seen Aseret show fear and didn’t expect him to this time. Sure enough, he chose to revel in