“You are far more alert this time,” an unfamiliar voice spoke quietly into my ear. I turned around but found no other presence in the inky abyss. “You grow stronger by the minute,” the woman continued, still a near whisper. She spoke slowly. “But you are in my domain. King or guardian, you cannot expel me from my territory.”
“Anna is not your territory!” I retorted. My voice sounded odd, echoing like I was in an empty auditorium instead of underwater.
“Oh, but she is,” the voice retorted. Something swam around me in the shadows; I couldn’t see, but I could feel the water rippling from the motion. “Do you know how long I stayed by Jaesing’s side?”
“What are you talking about? You possessed someone else’s body,” I stated firmly.
“That was just a husk, created for my enjoyment,” Nachtine replied, letting a slight chuckle escape dangerously close to my ear. I swatted an arm out but hit nothing. “A soul inhabiting an empty body becomes a real body. Did you not know that?”
That was incredibly condescending.
“Anna and Astrid are daughters of a god and a demon queen,” Nachtine stated. “As such, they are extensions of my will.” A feline face briefly formed in the water a few feet from me, reminding me of a mirage I’d seen in the clouds while leaving Arlgog’s realm. Her face was different, though.
“Family is not property,” I retorted angrily. An eerie chuckle sounded close to my ear again. “Are you going to hide forever, or face me?” I asked.
“This is my realm, Victor, you do not make the rules,” the nightmare demon . “Simply keeping you here is enough to destroy you. Of course, that would be such a waste of power. How about we make a deal?”
“Not interested,” I replied firmly.
She continued anyway, “This body isn’t immortal, so I will need a replacement once it grows old. You are powerful. If we ruled as the new King and Queen, you could help me produce a new replacement…”

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