Page 41 of Architecti
I’ve thought about this all day.Nothing felt right.I could confess my mistakes, that I’m fallible and fucked up.That the only person I loved threw me away.That my family died for nothing.A stupid debate that resolved nothing and still rages in the city.
The only thing that feels true is what led me here.
I stare deep into the undulating shadow-tower.“Love ruins us all,” I say.
I swear it smiles, a feeling that smothers every millimetre of my skin.Seeps into every pore, gelatinous and thick.I shiver; it’s not a nice smile.It’s dark and viscous like poison.
“That is not true.But it is true, for you, it seems.I’ll allow it…”
Relief washes through me until it says, “If…”
I replay its words.It will allow it if…
“If, what?”
“If you’re willing to take a deal…”
A… what?
Surely this is against protocol?Were the other candidates offered deals?I locate Professor Malifax, but it’s as though he’s frozen.The only movement comes from the occasional dust mote drifting in the muted beams of stained light.
If this is the only way into Finis, then I’ll bite.
“What sort of deal?”I ask, balling my fist.
“Your real truth is that you are here to save your soul… aren’t you?”
“I’ve not hidden that, I assumed you wanted something more meaningful.”
“I want the truth.And I want… other things, Mercedes.”
That voice.The way it whispers and screams.So familiar, so alien.
“What things do you want?”
“I will save your soul, and in exchange you will reap a single soul for me…”
I laugh.I can’t help it, it bubbles up nervous and jittery.
“You’re kidding?One soul?”
Is this a joke?I can reap souls all day.Why the hell is it offering me this?
I’m not sure how I can tell, but it shakes its head, a bristly feeling that rushes around me.
“A soul for a soul.Simple.”
“Nothing is ever simple.What’s the caveat?The clause?The trickery?”
“No clauses, no trickery, no caveats.One soul for yours.”
I hear the words, and yet it sounds too good to be true.It almost always is with demons.I swore I’d never make another deal.
But this… This is what I came here for.
Can it really be this simple?
This easy?
