Free A Soul for Vengeance by Crista McHugh Page B

comprehends.”
    A lump lodged in her throat, choking her anger back and letting a new emotion take root. Whatever twisted game Loku had envisioned when he’d trapped her here, she never imagined it would leave with this hunger to know her father better. What kind of man was he? What was it about him that made her mother fall so in love with him? And what was the real reason why they were torn apart?
    “You are as disgustingly naïve as your mother.” Loku’s insult squashed any seedlings of curiosity and let the longstanding weeds of bitterness take over. “Be wary of him, Arden. He fooled your mother, just like he’s trying to fool you now. He knows you want that necklace, but he refuses to give it to you. Why?”
    Her pulse stuttered for several beats before resuming the long, solid strokes she’d started the morning with. The dam she’d built to hold back Loku’s power cracked, and magic seeped into her veins. “Is this another one of your lies, Varrik?”
    He balked, the softness fleeing from his eyes and revealing an unexpected side to the man who’d sired her. This man stood firm like a formidable opponent who was more than capable of taking her on. A wall of unfamiliar magic encased her. “You’re letting him have too much influence over you, Arden.”
    Loku fought back, his reach extending to the surface of her skin and adding a deep echo to her voice. “You do not want to anger us, you silly mortal. We are far more powerful than you can ever imagine.”
    The door handle jiggled, but Loku sent a bolt of magic toward it, melting the metal lock. He seized more and more control of her body, pushing her back to the deepest recesses of her consciousness.
    Cinder whimpered and nudged her hand with his cold nose, but she couldn’t even ruffle his fur and let him know she was alright. Loku now dictated when and how she moved.
    “Arden, remember who you are,” Varrik said, his voice calm and steady. “You are the Soulbearer, the one chosen to contain him, not to be his slave.”
    She struggled to fight back, but it was like trying to swim in the waves of a stormy sea. She’d already let him grab too much control, and now she was drowning.
    Loku laughed, his voice coming from her mouth. “See, Varrik? I have complete control of her. She’s mine. Now give us what we want.”
    “You’ve grown arrogant, Loku.” Varrik stood tall, his unyielding stance acting like a rope thrown from a boat that she could grab onto. “You’ve forgotten how you ended up like this.”
    “No, I’ve never forgotten. But you underestimate her hatred, her desire to have vengeance for what you did to her mother. She’s willingly relinquished control to me to carry out your punishment.”
    “No, I haven’t,” she yelled back, but her words remained buried deep within her mind where only Loku could hear her. She clawed her way back to the surface, fueled by her fury. Loku was putting words in her mouth. Loku was betraying her. And Loku would pay once she regained control.
    For a brief second, she managed to overtake him. The book fell from her hands as she reached for the one person offering to help her. Then a cloud of green lightning swallowed her, shoving her back into the black abyss. She was falling deeper into Loku’s spell—so deep, she feared she’d never come back.
    A low chant halted her freefall, leaving her suspended in the void.
    “Stop it!” Loku growled, but the chant grew louder and clearer with each repetition. Although she didn’t understand the words, they beckoned her to trust them. A beam of light sliced through the darkness. She grabbed it.
    What happened next, she couldn’t describe. It was like flying faster than a peregrine’s dive, only instead of going down, she was being pulled up. The speed pressed the air from her lungs, blurred her vision, and made her jaw ache from clenching it so tightly. She ripped through the veil of helplessness Loku had tried to smother her with and emerged from the