Hexed

it to catch my breath. He couldn’t see me in here, but he could probably hear me.
    Pirkitta . . . Pirkitta . . . Where did you go now? You’re being a very naughty girl and I’m going to have to punish you for it. Come out now, back onto the ice, and I’ll make it easy on you.
    I forced my tongue still, even though I wanted to shout out a retort, a snide comeback. This was no time for pettiness. I had to destroy him, but more than that, I had to find out why I’d done this to him.
    I headed toward the back of the cavern and found yet another passageway leading down. Since I had no idea if I was coming out of this alive, I decided I might as well follow and find out where it led. As it was, I had no clue as to how I was going to destroy Vikkommin. Undutar seemed convinced I could do it while in the darkness, but I wasn’t so sure.
    The passage led down a narrow ledge with steep ravines on either side. I glanced over the edge and quickly pulled back. I couldn’t have seen what I thought I saw—no, it wasn’t possible. But a second look and I knew I wasn’t hallucinating.
    There was a column in the center of the deep pit to my right. Along the column were row after row of faces—death masks and skulls, ornamenting the towering stalagmite that was a good eight feet thick. Holy Hel, no wonder they called this cavern the Gates of Hel. It truly was a death chamber.
    I turned back to see the faint glimmer I knew was Vikkommin. He was waiting at the top of the path and I sensed a hesitancy now—a pause in certainty.
    “What’s wrong? Are you afraid to come down here?”
    Come up. You know eventually I’ll have you. Or you’ll starve to death, waiting for me to leave. Pirkitta, you don’t know the power you’ll have when you are with me. You can’t imagine the beautiful strength that flows through my being now. You will have all that, once you’re with me.
    Power. . . power . . . Where had I heard that before? A fuzzy thought began to take shape in my mind.
    “I don’t think so. You’re an abomination, Vikkommin. If I’m the one who turned you into this, I promise you, I will give myself over for punishment. But you cannot go on like this—you feed on the life of the Northmen and their families. You are no longer part of the cycle.”
    Oh, that’s what you said long ago, that’s what you predicted would happen to me. But look—you are the reason for my existence in this form. You created the monster you feared I was becoming. How do you feel about that, my love? How do you feel now that you know you’ve fucked things up and birthed a fearsome shadow who is the terror of the northern wastes?
    I glanced around, staring at the skulls on the central tower, trying to think. The pit over the edge was so vast that if I had to, I could throw myself in and he’d never be able to get me. Had I really done this to him? Was I, at the heart, responsible for all of this?
    You’re making a mistake, Vikkommin. You’re going against the Order, Vikkommin. You’re turning into a monster, Vikkommin . . .
    His voice mocked mine, in perfect precision, and suddenly, the years began to slide away as the secrets I’d locked within my heart broke open . . . and I was standing back in his room that night, facing my love for the last time.

     
    VIKKOMMIN HAD CALLED me to his room. Nothing unusual—we spent a great deal of time together, but tonight something was different. He had a look on his face that I didn’t like. One I recognized all too often as of late.
    “You’ve been in the White Forest, haven’t you? What are you doing there, Vikkommin? You promised you’d curtail how often you go. You know I don’t like it and neither would the Priestess-Mother.”
    Vikkommin, strikingly handsome and with a rogue look in his eye, swept me into his arms. “Kiss me before you scold me,” he said, and I did. His lips pressed against mine, warm and like fine wine, and they sucked me in deep, into his love, into his passion, and I wanted nothing more than to strip off my clothes and climb into bed with him.
    But there was something—something that struck me as odd . . . off-kilter. I pulled away, and catching my breath, I turned back to him.
    “What are you doing, my love? What calls you to the forest? We have everything we could want here. Everything we could ask for.”
    A flame shot wild in his gaze and he shook his head. “You truly believe that? You don’t understand, do you? I have to show you. If I show you,