"Stop standing out there like dog shit, you're blocking the sun rays from entering my chakra crystals." A voice barks at us from inside the tent. Atticus sighs as I raise my eyebrows at him.

"That's her." He mutters, ducking inside of the light filled tent. Me and Claire quickly follow him into the tent, just in time to see a withered old woman give Atticus a distasteful look. Right, he's a vampire. That has to count for some type of demon, right? Atticus clears his throat and gestures towards us.

"These are the Beaumont sisters. One of them is my mate— tread carefully on how you speak to them." His voice calm but lethal as the old woman rolls her wrinkled eyes.

"Oh spare me mighty one." She rasps our sarcastically, gesturing for us to take a seat on the floor cushions across from her. In the middle there was a cloudy crystal ball, in the shade of purple. She quickly sees the question of why it's that particular color on my face and speaks up.

"It draws power from the sun, child. Well— one of them anyway." She says giving us an observant but cautious stare as we take seats. King Atticus remains standing, as if ready to throw himself in front of Claire if the prophet tried anything. My lips flicker up in amusement as the woman starts to bicker back and fourth with him.

"Standing there all day won't make you any taller." She mutters as he narrows his eyes at her. Claire beckons Atticus to sit next to her, and he obeys.

The old woman whistles at him as I raise my eyebrows at her.

"That one has got you whipped harder than whipped cream." She makes a gesture as if she had a whip and then she cackles. To that, I crack a smile and am tempted to laugh along with her . I bite my lip, trying to look as serious as I possibly can. She's harmless. A breeze enters through the tent and her long whitish grey hair ruffles along with it. She clasps her blue veined hands together and licks her lips, staring at me for a long minute.

"What is wrong with you?" She questions, eyes scanning over me from head to toe. I pale at her observation. What does she see?

"Varla." Atticus warns her lowly, but she waves him off as if she meant no insult.

"I sense something. What has got you tormented like that? Something of great darkness has been cast on you recently." She murmurs, still observing me, eyes flicking around my face in interest. I swallow dryly and play with my fingers. Can she sense that I made a deal with Kilian?

"Well— I mean, I do hang around demons all day." I choke on my words, trying to come up with an explanation for what she sees. She ignores my words and bites her thumb nail.

"No. It's not that." She says, and then stands up abruptly, turning to search a dresser displayed behind her. It's decorated with all types of crystal gems that the sun rays are hitting. Chakra crystals.

She quickly digs through her drawers and pulls out a white crystal necklace. It gleams with different iridescent shades of purple and blues once it hits the light. Opal.

She walks her sandaled feet back to her cushion and plops back down, scratching her chin in fascination.

"Put this on." She says, chucking the silver opal necklace at me. I struggle to catch it, chain sliding through my fingers.

"What for?" I ask, intrigued. I listen and fasten the chain around me— Claire and Atticus's eyes stay glued onto me and my movements.

"I need to read you." Varla rasps, rubbing her hands together. "This should be good." She says darkly, but oddly still excited.

"You don't get many visitors, huh?" Kilian drawls from the tent opening as Varla pales.

"Get out." She barks at him. "Demon, be repelled by my three bells of power. I'm grand in my power." She spits as he crosses his toned arms over his chest, raising an amused eyebrow at her tactics. He glances at the silver bells and raises a hand to touch one of them.

"Ah, yes— the do not disturb sign specifically meant for us. Hmm, I'm melting. Can't you tell?" He says sarcastically as Varla scowls.

"What do you want? I have no souls for you to torture." She hisses as he takes a step into the tent, past the bells. He places a hand over his heart and casts a smile over us; and, for some odd reason, my heart starts to beat faster. I bite my lip as Varla and him don't break eye contact, none blinking.

"Such animosity." He purrs darkly, teasingly. He was enjoying himself, he liked angering the poor old woman. Then, without another thought, Varla blinks. Kilian lets out a smile that takes my breath away, and opens his mouth to say something. His fangs gleaming in the light, I feel the tension in the room thicken.

"Ha." He whispers. "You blinked."

With that, Varla explodes at his taunt.

"Be gone, evil!" She roars at him. "Take what you want and be gone!"

To that, he blinks slowly and glances at me from beneath his eyelashes.

"In that case, Viola. Come here." He commands. I feel the tattooed black rose start to throb on my arm. Our deal mark. I suck in a breath as I feel oddly tempted to go to him. I lift myself on shaky legs and start to walk to him, lifting my arms to reach out to him.

"Wait!" Varla says, sighing at all of us. "I have to read her. The spirits won't let me rest until I do." She grumbles out as the trance that I was in breaks. I blink slowly as I come to realization at what went down. He controlled me by our deal mark. He could have controlled me this entire time— to do anything. But he didn't.

I don't break eye contact with Kilian's intense stare, squeezing my fists tighter. I should punch him in the face for controlling me like that. Lucky it was only a couple of steps, and not something extreme.

I turn my head to look at Varla and smile at her.

"You can read me— tell me what's wrong with me. But, I also need you to tell me where my father is." I try to strike a deal with her, hands trembling with anticipation. Immediately Varla starts to shake her head.

"So that's what you guys came for. I can't, I—"she's cut off by Kilian stepping closer to me.

"How about I make a deal with you, crabby old woman?" He says, immediately attracting the attention of Varla.

"And what could I ever possibly want from a snake like you—" She snarls as he grins.

"Don't you want an effective way to keep demons out? Cause let me tell you, those cat collar bells won't do the trick." He says in his deep silky voice. I bite my lip as I look at him. He would strike a deal with her— for me? No. I shake my thoughts away and look away from him quickly. All demons make deals for their own selfish gain. But— I suppose I should give him the benefit of the doubt. I mean, he could have controlled me to do whatever he wanted this entire time. I could've been on my knees at any moment— whether it was scrubbing floor with a toothbrush or sucking his dick. It could've been either or at this point.

But he didn't.

He just went along with our journey, acting like a friend. Maybe it was an act. I guess we'll have a lot to find out for the entire year— let's see how this unfolds.

Varla chews on her bottom lip for a minute, considering. And then with a look of finality, she opens her mouth to speak.

"Deal." She says flatly.

"Splendid." He says, eyes turning red. "A deal it is."

I don't miss the quick flicker of his eyes in my direction, nor the tilt of his lips.

I definitely don't think he misses the quick squeamish movements of me pressing my thighs together.

What game is he playing?

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