"You sure have been a busy boy, haven't you, Ray Ray?" Marina's voice echoed lightly through the ruined lobby as she stepped over shattered glass. She moved slowly, deliberately, her boots tracing the dark trail smeared across the marble floor. The secretary's blood leading all the way to the far wall.
She glanced around, almost amused.
"I see you've been up to your usual degrading activities." Raynard stood near the center of the room, relaxed, hands clasped behind his back like a host waiting for applause. Marina finally turned to face him, her eyes sharp.
"Is this really how a deity should behave?" she asked calmly. "Like a rabid hound. Killing senselessly. Making messes just to feel something."
Raynard chuckled, low and warm.
"How brave of you to come here, hedge," he said. "Have you come to plead for your life? To beg me not to do to you what I did to all your other little friends?" As he spoke, his gaze dropped to her hands. He noticed the way her fingers clenched and smiled.
"This," he continued lazily, "is a pastime for me." Marina smiled thinly.
"That's funny. Because all I see is an act."
She tilted her head. "And acts like this usually belong to very small beings trying desperately to feel large."
His smile twitched. "Oh, I took my time with the others," Raynard said, unfazed. "Each one. I made sure they understood exactly how alone they were before it ended."
He stepped closer to her.
"But you?" His eyes gleamed. "You delivering yourself to me? That's a treat. One I intend to savor."
He leaned in slightly.
"Don't worry though. I'll make it quick for you." Marina didn't move, Instead, she said one word.
"John."
Raynard froze, slowly he tilted his head while narrowing his eyes.
"Tell me something, Raynard," Marina continued, her voice sharp and precise. "What do you think your darling son would say if he knew you not only slaughtered his own staff but that you're a selfish, cowardly entity who preys on women just to feel important?"
Raynard laughed, shaking his head as if genuinely entertained. He looked up toward the ceiling. "Where is he, Marina?"
She shrugged.
"And what makes you think I know where your spawn ran off to, Ray Ray?"
She smiled sweetly. "Go find him yourself. Unless, of course… you can't."
The silence that followed stretched out for a moment.Then Raynard's voice dropped.
"Do you want to know something interesting?" he said softly. "They all screamed."
Marina didn't blink at what he just said.
"Some of them called for you," he went on. "As I tore their hope apart along with their flesh from bone piece by piece. They knew you weren't coming. And even if you could… you wouldn't."
He leaned forward again, with his eyes burning with amusement and seriousness at the same time.
"You're just as much of a coward as you think I am."
Her hand clenched tighter and Raynard smiled slowly.
"I think I'll make it slow," he said. "I think I'll make you beg for death." The air around them grew heavy and oppressive.
"I'll break you in ways the human mind can't imagine. I'll mutilate your shade, twist it until even the idea of release feels like mercy."
He stepped closer still.
"And when I'm finished, I won't let you go."
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"I'll keep you as a puppet. Something I can use whenever I feel like it."
Marina stared at him impassively. Then, she laughed. "Wow," she said lightly. "He really is different from you."
Raynard frowned.
"John I mean," Marina continued with her eyes turning cold. "He's a lot stronger. Kinder. Braver."
She stepped closer now.
"And somehow… he came from you."
She shook her head in mock disappointment.
"I can't imagine how someone like him ended up with a father like you."
Marina exhaled slowly, steadying herself before speaking again.
"But that's not why I'm here," she said calmly.
Raynard tilted his head, interest flickering behind his eyes.
"Oh?" His lips curled. "And what is it that brings you crawling into my presence, Marina Andrieski?"
"A deal."
Raynard chuckled softly. "You mortals and your deals as if it will save you from my wrath. Very well then let's hear what kind of deal this is that would stop me from enacting my punishment on you?"
"My life."
That caught his attention as he turned fully toward her now, eyes glinting with utter amusement.
"And what," he asked lightly, "could you possibly have that would be worth something as precious as that?"
Marina didn't hesitate.
"John." The air shifted slightly at her proposal.
Raynard's smile didn't fade but something behind it sharpened.
"…Go on."
"I know where he is," Marina continued. "And more importantly, I know why you can't find him."
Raynard folded his arms. "Is that so?"
"The magicians," she said. "More specifically, Kai. He has John hidden somewhere safe."
Raynard's gaze darkened.
"I should be able to sense my own blood."
"You would," Marina replied evenly, "if Kai hadn't done something to him."
Raynard's eyes narrowed. "Explain."
"He's bound John with something that dampens his divine signature. It blocks your connection to him and masks him completely. Undetectable."
"And," Marina added carefully, "he's nowhere you can reach currently. The only one who can get to him… is Kai."
Raynard stared at her, with his voice turning cold.
"And you expect me to believe he's simply keeping him locked away?"
"No," Marina said. "He's setting a trap. One designed specifically for you."
Raynard stepped a bit closer to her.
"And why," he asked quietly, "would I believe a single word coming out of your treacherous mouth?"
He circled her slowly.
"Why abandon the chance to trap me yourself? Why betray Kai ?"
Marina met his gaze without flinching.
"Because this isn't personal," she said. "It's business."
She gestured to herself.
"And the currency on the table… is my life."
Raynard laughed softly.
"So you'd betray everyone even Kai, the magicians, even your own species just to survive?"
"Yes." She answered without hesitation or shame.
"That's reason enough."
She took a bold step closer to him shortening the distance between the both of them.
"I don't care who wins this war. I care that I walk away from it alive."
For a long moment, Raynard studied her.
Then he chuckled.
"You really are a devious one, aren't you?"
Suddenly, he vanished.
Marina felt a presence behind her.
Raynard reappeared with his hand inside her chest with his eyes narrowed at what he just did and proving a point.
Marina relaxed as she saw the hand going through her chest. Raynard paused with an eyebrow lifting.
Slowly, she stepped forward and away from his hand.
"A projection," she said calmly. "For protection. I'm sure you understand the need for it."
Raynard withdrew his hand, eyes gleaming.
"Is that so?"
"You want to kill me far too badly," Marina continued. "I wasn't about to take chances. Besides, I can't leave my location right now. Kai is watching me."
She turned back to him.
"Seeing as I am bait, for you."
Raynard chuckled again, low and amused.
"And why," he asked, "should I believe any of this. That this isn't just another layer of your plan?"
Marina laughed softly.
"My, my, Raynard… is that doubt I'm hearing?"
He glanced at her from the corner of his eye.
She paced slowly, circling him now.
"You know, Kai said something interesting," she continued casually. "He said he already subdued you once."
Raynard stopped.
"…What?"
"That he completely overpowered you," Marina said. "And that the only reason you escaped—"
She watched him carefully as she finished the sentence.
"—was because your mother helped you."
Raynard stiffened instantly as he turned, eyes narrowed to slits.
"…How does he know who she is?"
"No one knows that," Raynard said coldly. "That knowledge belongs only to the gods."
Marina shrugged, meeting his gaze with cool blue eyes.
"Beats me," she said lightly. "He always seems to know things he shouldn't."
She said with a smile.
"And now… you have to ask yourself, Raynard."
She spread her hands.
"Do you kill me and lose John forever… or do you keep me alive and walk straight into Kai's trap knowing exactly what it is?"
The room went silent after what she just spilled.
Raynard's smile slowly returned and wider this time.
"Oh," he murmured. "This is going to be fun."
After a moment of silence, Raynard spoke again with a low and venomous voice.
"I'm going to kill that disgusting, abominable stain of a vampire… or whatever he is."
The magic around him stirred violently as the air grew heavy, crushing. The stone floor beneath his feet cracked, spiderweb fractures racing outward as immense pressure poured off him unchecked.
Raynard turned slowly toward Marina, a smile curling onto his face.
"And when exactly," he asked softly, "do you plan to do this subduing of me, hmm, Marina?"
Marina didn't flinch at his tone and simply tabled another matter.
"Ah, ah, ah," she said lightly. "First comes my freedom from you."
Raynard chuckled, the sound echoing unnaturally.
"Fine."
She shook her head.
"Not good enough. I want a pact."
He laughed outright this time.
"Excuse me?"
"You could go back on your word whenever you like," Marina replied calmly. "Especially once you're done with Kai. I'm simply being careful because I love breathing, and I don't intend to stop anytime soon."
"You of all people should understand how freedom tastes better when no one is hunting you."
Raynard clicked his tongue, considering her.
"Alright. But you aren't here physically to finalize a pact now, are you?" he said with a smirk.
Marina smiled.
"Oh, I already have that part covered."
A sharp sizzle sounded behind Raynard.
He turned around and saw a single piece of paper hovering in the air.
Raising an eyebrow, he looked back at Marina, then lifted his hand. The paper flew smoothly into his grasp.
He scanned it once.
Then twice.
"Ohhh," he murmured.
"All you need to do is sign it," Marina said. She paused deliberately.
"In blood."
Raynard's eyes lifted to hers.
"And how do I know this isn't another trick?"
Marina met his gaze without hesitation.
"Because if I tried to trick you, I'd be dead already." A faint smile tugged at her lips. "Besides, I wouldn't dare attempt to deceive the Trickster himself."
Raynard studied her for a long moment.
Then he closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, the paper glowed, a crimson smear appearing at the bottom as if written by an unseen hand.
"There," he said calmly. "The pact is complete."
The paper flared brightly then burst into flames, disintegrating into ash before it hit the ground.
Marina exhaled.
"He's planning to subdue you tomorrow morning. He mentioned drawing you out, but I don't know how he intends to do that. That's all he told me."
She straightened.
"I have to go."
As her projection began to fade, Raynard stepped closer, his voice dropping to a whisper meant only for her.
"For your sake, Marina… I truly hope this isn't a trick."
He leaned in, murmuring one final warning:
"Because tricking a god doesn't end in death.
It ends in eternity."
Her image vanished.
Silence returned to the chamber.
Raynard turned slowly toward the woman collapsed on the floor unconscious and pale from blood loss. He regarded her with open disgust.
"How… utterly repulsive."
His eyes glowed for a second as magic surged out.
The woman vanished, instantly vaporized, along with the stone beneath her, leaving behind nothing but a scorched void where the floor had once been.
Raynard stood alone.
Then suddenly his expression twisted, warping into something feral and utterly terrifying.
"I'm going to kill them all."
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