Cursed (Demon Kissed #2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

awoke from my vision, or
whatever it was, I described the black glass to Al, telling her
everything I had seen. But, in all her visions, Al had never
encountered the black mirror. That made me uneasy. She should have
seen everything by now. She was ancient.
    That was when Al spoke the words that
plagued me. “It could be your powers are not as static as we
thought.”
    “ Static?” My voice was
flat. “That’s a nice way for saying my powers are morphing, because
I’ve been tainted with demon blood, right?” I pushed my hair out of
my face and slouched back into the couch.
    She nodded. “You aren’t the same. It’s
foolish to behave like you are. Whether you like it or not, you
have some of the Valefar’s abilities. Until now, I’d hoped the
Martis and Valefar powers would remain separate—clearly one or the
other. It would allow you to know whether or not you should use
those powers. Opening the door to evil, even slightly, could have
lasting repercussions; repercussions that you don’t
want.”
    I leaned forward. “You mean the
slippery slope theory? If I let a little bit of evil in, I’ll slide
right into a mess of it?”
    “ Not entirely. It’s just
that you should know what’s behind a door before you open it.” She
leaned towards me, her face utterly concerned. “That’s what my job
is—to tell new Martis what their powers are and what those powers
do. But, I’m afraid I can’t help you with this Ivy. Your powers are
changing and combining things that don’t go together.”
    “ What am I supposed to do
when I come across something that’s whacked? Ya know, when I find a
power that’s neither Valefar or Martis.” I ran my fingers through
my hair. “What should I do? Ignore it?”
    Al shook her head. “I doubt that would
be wise. You’ll have to trust your gut and make sure the purpose of
the power moves in line with your plans. What did you feel from the
mirror?”
    My eyebrows pulled together at the
weird question. “Feel? What do you mean? I stared at the glass for
a while. I tried to move through it, but I couldn’t. It felt like
Jell-O, kind of cold and firm.”
    A smile spread across Al’s face. She
laughed, “Not physically. I mean what did you feel coming from the
mirror? Did it fill you with dread, fear, cold, warmth, or
what?”
    I cocked my head, not really
understanding what she meant. “I didn’t feel anything coming from
it. It’s an inanimate object—a hunk of Jell-O glass. It’s not like
it was alive or something.”
    “ How do you know?” Al
asked completely serious. The smile slid off my face when I
realized she was serious. “Ancient things, be they good or evil,
seem to have a life of their own over time. They can become
something else, something that they weren’t intended for. Sometimes
they take on the attributes of what’s around them. If that mirror
was in the Underworld, you should be able to sense it. You should
feel evil, darkness, emanating from it. It’s possible if you had
walked through its pane, you’d be trapped there with Collin right
now; or somewhere else entirely. Not knowing what it was or who
created it—Martis or Valefar—puts you in a very precarious
situation.”
    I stared at Al. This news didn’t sit
well with me. It meant that at any time, I could be walking into a
trap. A trap laid by Valefar or Martis, especially since I wasn’t
aware of all my Valefar powers. Collin only taught me two things,
and they were powers that he said wouldn’t compromise me. But there
were other dark powers that were inside of me—powers that came
naturally to regular Valefar. I could stumble on the dark powers
and unlock them without even knowing it. No wonder everyone was
afraid of me. I was a time bomb.
    I started to squeak out a sound, but
Al cut me off. “You’ll know.”
    “ But how?” I asked burying
my head in my hands. “How could I possibly know which powers are
Valefar or not? How could I know if the black glass came from my
mind