His sleep was dreamless.
The Sorcerer woke up into her cold blue gaze.
The girl was dressed, watching him with a bland expression as she handed him his robes. She stayed quiet until he’d put them on.
“I believe you have something for me,” she said.
The Sorcerer looked at his former protegée and nodded.
He got up, shocked at the pain searing through him while searching amongst the shelves. He kept his back to the girl until he found the promised magic dust that would protect her in moments of danger.
The Sorcerer had never before had cause to notice the emptiness inside him after a seduction came to an end. Exhaustion he hadn’t known since he’d been mortal spread through his limbs when he found the leather pouch.
Then he glimpsed the black velvet bag, nestled in the corner of the highest shelf, and his spirit lifted. The Sorcerer had actually forgotten about the girl’s heart.
No wonder he was so tired.
He turned around and handed the young woman the pouch of magic dust that she could use to turn anybody into anything she wanted with a word.
She took it in hand, but eyed him closely, with a slight scowl.
So the girl noticed his shift in mood. Good. That was very good.
Her powers of observation were impeccable, one of the many reasons she was the most satisfying conquest he’d enjoyed in centuries.
“Use this with caution,” the Sorcerer advised her for the last time. “You only need a pinch. It’s very powerful.”
The nodded, ruffling her skirts to pocket the leather pouch.
“I don’t know if the world is ready for you,” the Sorcerer mused. “But you’re more than ready for the world. Good luck in your new life.”
The girl nodded absently, and said nothing.
She stared up the tunnel for a minute before taking her first step out of the Caverns. But once she started, her progress was steady as she made her way up the stairs.
The Sorcerer watched her go, a sharp stab in his breast catching him off guard so much that he almost doubled over.
This pain was confusing. He had no reason to suffer. The Sorcerer glanced at the black velvet bag, his dry mouth salivating. Soon, he would get what he really needed, and this ache inside his breast would soon be gone.
The girl stopped halfway up the spiral.
Her halt was so sudden the Sorcerer wondered if she could hear what he was thinking.
She looked down at him, her brows drawn close.
The Sorcerer knew what her question would be before she spoke, her contralto voice echoing down the tunnel.
“What are you going to do with my heart, Sorcerer?”
“I’m going to eat it.”
The Sorcerer was pleased that he didn’t hesitate in his answer. And thus, he dispelled the last vestiges of the illusion of love.
The girl’s face paled and the Sorcerer felt like himself again, reveling in the new surge of vitality in his blood.
“I always knew there would be a hidden cost,” she murmured.
The girl turned her face to the sky, deep lavender in the hour before sunrise, and finished her climb out of the Caverns and disappeared.
She would be all right, the Sorcerer thought, confident he’d done better by her than to any of his other conquests.
With everything she’d gained from him, her power was formidable.
The Sorcerer shook the torpor from his limbs and turned back to the shelf, his eyes reaching for the velvet bag before he got it in hand.
Pulling the gathers open, his innards clenched when he saw the heart. He had never waited so long to feed.
But first, he had to bring it back to life.
The heart was so quiet and still.
The Sorcerer waved his hand over the bag and whispered the spell of awakening.
Then he waited, but nothing happened.
Jostling the bag between his fingers, his voice rumbled with another command to make the organ pulse again.
But the heart rocked in silence.
The Sorcerer frowned.
This had never happened before.
Those were powerful spells.
But now he needed his strongest remedy.
The Sorcerer searched until he found a tonic he once used to bring a dead man back to life. He held his breath as he sprinkled a few drops and waited.
Nothing changed.
He doused the heart with the tonic, massaging the supple tissue, and muttered the most powerful incantation in his memory, a spell that had never failed him until now.
A crest of panic rose in his breast, but the Sorcerer pushed it down.
This couldn’t be happening.
The Sorcerer had no appetite for a stillborn heart.
The girl’s heart had to be alive.
