"I've thought about it," she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. "I've thought about it a lot."
"And what conclusion did you reach?"
Another pause. Longer this time.
"That I'm not... enough," Seraphina said finally. The words came out cracked, broken. "Not pretty enough. Not interesting enough. Not powerful enough. Just... not enough."
Sarah's expression didn't change, but something in her amber eyes softened. Almost like sympathy. Almost.
"That's what they taught you, isn't it?" she murmured. "The Shaw family. Your sister. Everyone who ever made you feel small." A pause. "They were wrong."
Seraphina looked up sharply.
"I've existed for a very long time," Sarah continued. "Longer than your history books. Longer than your religions. And in all that time, I've learned something about you humans that you all never live long enough to learn about yourselves." She leaned forward, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "You're not defined by what you lack. You're defined by what you want. And what you want, Seraphina, is more powerful than any technique, any mana pool, any measure of strength your family ever used to judge you."
"What do you mean?"
Sarah's smile widened. Just slightly. Just enough.
"I mean," she said, "that wanting something with enough intensity changes the world around you. Shapes reality itself, isn't that what magic is? And I can help you focus that wanting. Channel it. Use it to get exactly what you've always wanted."
Seraphina's heart hammered against her ribs. "You're talking about magic. Some kind of spell?"
"It's more of a contract, you help me and I help you."
Seraphina hesitated. "A Witch's Oath?"
"You're correct," Sarah observed.
"How in the world do you know so much about me? Who even are you?"
Sarah paused.
"I'm the Primordial Witch of Love and Lust, Asmodeus or as you all call me, Lady Rose. Making people want each other is rather my specialty."
Seraphina immediately froze, hundreds of thoughts appeared in her head at once, to the point where steam was coming out from her ears.
"You're-you-you're a GOD!"
"Bleu brings laziness to this world, Vert brings unwanted desires, Violet brings voracity, Blanc brings jealousy and spite for others, Jaune brings unwanted ego and Rouge brings chaos, I bring you love, attraction and longing, wouldn't you want something like that? LIving the rest of your life stuck in love."
Seraphina bit her lips.
"You're rather afraid aren't you? But you have no reason to be, what threat can someone like pose? Ask yourself this, what do you have to lose? You have nothing, absolutely nothing to lose. Another year of watching from the shadows? Another decade of wanting and never reaching? One day someone else will pick up Dominic, you know?" She held her hand, her eyes glowing red. "Or a few weeks of finally having what you've always wanted?"
Seraphina stared at the offered hand. Her mind raced through possibilities. Everything Hoshimi had said about being careful.
But Sarah was right about one thing.
[I have nothing to lose]
"What would I have to do?" Seraphina asked quietly.
"Nothing you are not already doing." Sarah's voice was silk wrapped around honey. "Continue being close to Dominic. Continue letting your feelings grow. The contract will do the rest. It will amplify your natural attraction, make him see you the way you have always wanted to be seen. It will not force him. It will not control him. It will simply open his eyes to what has been in front of him all along."
"And in exchange?"
"In exchange, you grant me something equally simple." Sarah's amber eyes gleamed. "A few weeks of your life. A rather small price for a euphoric feeling of happiness that will last you for the rest of your life, do you not think?"
Seraphina frowned. "A few weeks? What does that mean?"
"It means exactly what it sounds like." Sarah waved her hand dismissively. "You give me a small portion of your time. A few weeks of your lifespan. In exchange, I give you Dominic's heart. It is a fair trade. The most fair trade you will ever be offered."
Seraphina studied her face, searching for deception, for hidden meanings, for anything that might explain the unease coiling in her stomach. But Sarah's expression was open, honest, almost kind.
"A few weeks," Seraphina repeated. "That is all?"
"Within a few weeks, Dominic will confess his love to you." Sarah extended her hand further. "Do we have an agreement?"
Seraphina thought of Dominic's smile.
[The warmth in his eyes when he had looked at me in the shark tunnel. The way his shoulder had felt against mine as we walked through the aquarium.]
Her hand reached out.
A magical floating contract appeared right in front of Seraphina.
The contractor known as Sarah Williams will do everything in her power to assist Seraphina in seducing Dominic Walker, in exchange, Seraphina will give 3 weeks to Sarah Williams.
A few weeks of her life for Dominic's love.
[I would give decades for this] she thought. [A few weeks is nothing. Nothing at all.]
She immediately reached out and pressed her palm to the contract without thinking twice.
Light flared. Warmth spread through her arm, her chest, her entire body. It felt like being wrapped in sunlight, like drinking hot tea on a cold day, like the first moment of peace after years of pain. For one perfect moment, everything was right with the world.
Then the light faded, and the contract vanished, and Sarah was smiling at her with those terrible beautiful amber eyes.
"It is done," Sarah said. "Congratulations, Seraphina. You have just made the best decision of your life."
Seraphina's heart soared. She could already imagine it. Dominic looking at her with those crimson eyes, finally seeing her. Dominic reaching for her hand. Dominic saying her name like it meant something.
"When will it happen?" she asked breathlessly.
Sarah moved toward the door.
"Wait," Seraphina called out. "How will I know when it is working?"
Sarah paused, her hand on the door handle. She looked back over her shoulder, her amber eyes gleaming in the dim light.
"You will know," she said softly. "You will feel it. A warmth in your chest when he looks at you. A certainty that he is yours. And then, one day, he will come to you and speak words you have waited your whole life to hear."
Seraphina smiled. A genuine smile, the first in years.
"Thank you," she whispered.
Sarah's smile widened. Just slightly. Just enough.
"Of course." Her eyes glowed red.
The door clicked shut behind her.
Seraphina lay back on her bed, staring at the ceiling with new eyes. The fluorescent lights no longer seemed harsh. The hum no longer seemed irritating. Everything was beautiful now, charged with possibility, glowing with hope.
She thought of Dominic's face. His smile. The way his hair fell across his forehead. The sound of his laugh, genuine and warm.
[A few weeks] she thought happily. [Just a few weeks, and he will be mine.]
She curled up in her bed, hugging her pillow, and for the first time since the invasion, she fell asleep with a smile on her face.
In the corridor outside, Sarah walked slowly toward her own room. Her footsteps were silent, her expression unreadable. The fluorescent lights flickered once as she passed, responding to the mana that thrummed beneath her skin like a second heartbeat.
She paused at her door, looking back toward Seraphina's room. A faint smile curved her lips.
3 weeks until Seraphina's death.