Free Satan's Stone by H.M. Ward Page A

once your blood is given. It’s more binding than an oath. Failure to complete the bargain has dire consequences for both of us. You would kill the Demon King and steal his throne. You would have more power than me. There would be no one to stop you.” She watched me as she spoke, her words slowly lulling me into thinking this was a good plan.
    If I accepted the bargain, it would change me. But, I’d already changed so much. I just wanted to survive. I wanted this to end. There’d been so many things I wanted to do—wanted to be. Now all that was gone. My life was gone. This is what remained. I had the chance to kill the Demon King, and I knew she could teach me. I had the power. The hush murmurs were all around me. They knew I had power, but they also knew that I had no idea how to use it. I already demonstrated that time and time again. I wanted the certainty that this agreement would bring. I stared at her. Her arms were poised on the table. A gloved finger pressed into the stone. That was the only thing that told me that she cared about my answer. She wanted this. The angel she wanted was important, but I didn’t know how or why. And I had no idea how I was supposed to bring her a living angel. It didn’t matter. There was no other choice. I thrust out my hand, “You have a bargain.”
    She reached for my wrist, and a black blade appeared in her hand. She sliced it across my palm in a swift motion, causing blood to pour out of the cut. I flinched as the blade tore apart my skin, and my mouth opened to ask what she was doing. Before I could speak, she sliced her own palm. With a quick movement she gripped our bloodied palms together and there was a loud crack overhead. I winced, and tried to pull my hand back to retreat. It sounded like the ceiling would cave in.
    A black chalice appeared, catching the blood that flooded from our hands. When Locoicia reached for the cup, she swirled the contents. Two swirls of blood intertwined on top of the dark liquid. She grinned widely revealing her eye teeth, and set the object high on a shelf with several other gilded cups.  
    A wide smile snaked across her lips. “It is done. There is no such thing as a bloodless bargain. The chalice holds the bargain, and will dictate when it is completed and if either of us defaults on our end of the deal. Punishment for abandoning this bargain will be a prompt demise. How interesting…” Her violet eyes glimmered like precious stones.
    My throat constricted like she’d kicked my neck. “I didn’t consent to that!” My hand tightened around hers. “The bargain was your teachings in exchange for an angel. That was it!”
    She shook her head as she laughed. “The blood made the bargain, not me. Look at the liquid that appeared in the cup. I’ve seen many substances appear to bind the bargain. It provides a little insight as to what might occur if we abandon the agreement. Once a blood bargain is made, it cannot be broken.” She reached for the black goblet and thrust it into my hands. I looked down at the swirling contents. The liquid was thick and dark—completely opaque. I couldn’t see the bottom of the cup. There might as well have been tar sitting under the blood. Locoicia spoke, as she removed the glass from my hand. “It’s black as night, and viscous. Thick. That only means one thing—there is no way to escape a bargain of this magnitude with a slap on the wrist. No, liquid this thick and dark only has one repercussion—death.”
     

 
     
     
     
    CHAPTER THIRTEEN
     
    The musty scent of the warehouse filled my senses. Before I knew what happened, I peeled my eyes open and looked around. Sunlight was pouring through holes in the metal exterior. I sat up slowly, and clutched my hand to my chest. Breathing hard, I tried to calm down. Apryl was sitting across the room on a pile of crates watching me. When I said nothing, her attention went back to a magazine she had on her lap.
    I rubbed my eyes and pushed my hair