Free Marked: A Two Halves Novella by Marta Szemik

wanted. You will not be lost in an
endless oblivion. I will return Xela to the form you love. She will be yours
and only yoursss. You will feel no pain. You will rrrule at my ssside. Spare
yourrr soul mate, Xander. Isn’t she worth sssaving?”
    There was nothing I wanted more than to have her back. I was
ready to give up my life for her. Would that be so bad to give up your life for
someone you loved? The other shifters and demons didn’t matter. Xela had her
soul wrapped around my heart.
    I looked toward my witch, trying to find that spark in her
eyes that drew me before, but her eyes were blank, flatter than a can of opened
soda. What did he do to you? I desperately wondered.
    The walls of the grand hall seemed to close in. My feet were
hovering above the ground. Aseret’s gaze pulled me toward him, and I let my
arms fall to my sides and my head loll back. As I floated closer to him, the
heat from the fire pit wrapped itself around my body, as if the flames were
fabrics preparing me for mummification. Ready to be taken by the underworld, I
looked at my left wrist where the mark of the sphere would soon be visible.
    A memory flashed through my mind from when I was an
infant—I’d imagined this moment and how it would feel to have either of the two
marks.
    The memory reminded me of who I was. I thought about my
sister, about Eric and the keepers, remembering what they’d said. If I chose
the sphere, Mira’s fate would be decided. Humans would have no protection. The
future of all three species would be at risk. Even if I wasn’t sure how I was
going to help them, I couldn’t let their destiny be decided by my personal
choice.
    Aseret’s pull suddenly stopped, and I faced the warlock from
less than three feet, bound by blue magic light at my feet, no longer hovering.
Aseret held his arms palm-down in front of him; they streamed orange light. The
rock floor below them glowed, then split open. Within the gap, white shadows
floated like feathers in a gentle mist.
    “What is he doing?” I instinctively moved to stop him, but
my feet were glued to the rock. A freezer laughed as I strained to break his
spell.
    “He’s opening the hereafter,” Xela replied in a voice devoid
of care or passion. Any strength she’d muster, she used to open her mouth.
    The chasm released a white spirit. It slammed into Xela’s
body. Treachery and pain brimmed in her eyes.
    “Can’t you do something?” I asked.
    She laughed. Aseret had not only changed her appearance,
he’d changed her soul. Or did he? Was all that had transpired in her lair an
act? Was she merely luring me to the underworld, as she had others? Aseret had
no intention of changing Xela back, I realized. He would not allow the cohort
who brought shape-shifters to the underworld to leave his side.
    My left wrist burned.
    “Ssilly shifterrr.” Aseret cackled as he focused on the
opening to the hereafter.
    My choice had been made, willingly, and I hadn’t
accomplished anything. Soon, my fate and my sister’s would be decided. Aseret
was a liar—but I already knew that. I’d 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