Page 42 of Up In Flames
He nodded, then glanced around at the Corrupted. “We have to be more careful in front of them. He is always within them.”
“All right. We can use that as well.” I frowned at the blank expressions of the Corrupted. Then a memory slammed into me—Caleb. Before we'd gone to Aranren's workroom that morning, the Corrupter had done his job and corrupted Caleb. I had stood there and done nothing. And now, he stood against a wall, staring at nothing. “Fuck. Caleb.”
“Sometimes when he has you, the things he makes you do seem so normal and right that you don't remember them when parts of the real you return,” Aranren said gently. “Not at first. But then they come back to you. Just breathe through it, Ember.”
“I can free him.”
“Ember, I'm sorry, this is going to sound callous, but it's the truth. You must focus on saving yourself. If you happen to be able to save your friend too, that's wonderful. But don't waste your time thinking about him now. We must focus on what's important.”
“Yeah. I understand.”
“And that goes for me as well.”
“What?”
“If you get the opportunity to escape, you must take it, even if it means leaving me behind,” Aranren said vehemently. “Do not hesitate on my behalf. I have survived for this long. I will endure.”
“Aranren,” I whispered.
“Will you call me Ara?” A soft smile came to his lips. “It's been a long time since I've had a friend call me by that name.”
“I'd be honored, Ara.” I glanced at the Corrupted, then lowered my voice to say, “And as your friend, I want to confide something in you.”
“What is it?”
“You gave me too much credit earlier when you said I wasn't stupid.” I grimaced. “I did this to myself.”
“What do you mean?”
“I didn't trust Death.” I snorted. “And Taroc didn't trust Caleb. Damn it, he was right. Taroc knew from the start that something was wrong with Caleb. He warned me. But I didn't see it, and as for Death, I thought I could handle him. I thought I could test him and prove him to be true or false. I was such an idiot.”
Aranren laid his hand on my knee. “You are not the first to think he could control Death.”
“Doesn't that make me even more foolish?”
“No. It makes you a man.”
I nodded, not wanting to waste time arguing over it. “While we're still us, can you tell me how you possessed Caleb? That was you, not Death.”
“Yes. It's a spell, something similar to what you call corruption.”
“But Wraith Lords can sense corruption. Caleb wasn't corrupted.”
“No, he wasn't. Mostly. Just as Death withdraws from us, so could I withdraw from Caleb. I wasn't possessing him when you found him.”
“How often did you possess him?”
Aranren sighed. “Most of the intimate conversations you've had with him have been with me.”
“Oh, wow,” I whispered as I remembered how Caleb—no, the Corrupter—had encouraged me to use Death Magic. “You were guiding me into accepting Death.”
He nodded. “And trying to drive a wedge between you and your lovers. I'm sorry, Ember. I had no choice.”
“I know.” Then I grimaced. “Poor Caleb. He tried to tell me a few times.”
“He wasn't aware of what happened when I possessed him, but he grew suspicious when you started mentioning things to him that he didn't remember. It took him a while to figure out that something was wrong. And yes, he did try to tell you, but I was monitoring him. I stopped him every time.”
“Fuck.”
