Torn Page 0,8

make me question my decision to give a piece of my soul to Collin, but it did make me feel ashamed.

I looked away sharply. "I had to." My voice was faint. "I did it to save someone. He would have died without it."

The black-haired boy studied me. "Who? Who has your soul inside of them? Who will inherit your powers when the poison spreads through your body?"

Coldness filled the pit of my stomach, as I realized the magnitude of what he was saying. If my body died and my soul ceased to exist in this body, a piece of me was left elsewhere. That person would absorb all my powers. They would naturally flow into the only remaining piece of soul. And the person who had it was possessed by a demon.

"Collin."

The boy arched his eyebrow at me and shook his head. "You're a hot mess, aren't you? Good God! No wonder why you're the one who causes this whole disaster. You have no idea what the hell you're doing!"

"Like you do?" I wanted to leave the Lorren, but I wasn't sure if I could stand, never mind find my way out again. Shit. I had to undo this. I had to get the sapphire serum out of my chest.

He looked incredulous; like I shouldn't dare challenge him. He was obviously a Valefar who'd made a hideout inside the Lorren. At first I thought he was an idiot, and then I realized that was something I would do and lost all of the bluster that I was ready to spew at him. Instead I asked again, "Who are you?"

He stared at me, with his emerald eyes locked on my face. He bit his bottom lip for a moment before answering. It seemed to be a nervous tic, a gesture that he didn't realize he had that surfaced when he was tense...or afraid.

Silence surrounded us until he finally told me. "I'm Lorren."

Annoyed, I felt my eyebrow pinch as my mouth opened. Did he really think I was that stupid? He wasn't the Lorren. The Lorren is a maze. The Lorren's made of gold. The Lorren kills people. What an ass. I folded my arms and cocked my head, allowing my annoyance to become visible. "You're not the Lorren. Nice try Valefar-boy, but I met the Lorren and he doesn't play this way. So who the hell are you?" I stared up at him with my arms folded over my chest.

"You're insane." He folded his arms and stared back down at me. I waited for more, but he didn't say anything else.

My face scrunched up as I'd had all I could take of him. "The hell with you, Lorren-boy. I seem to be totally screwed because of you. Not only did you not let me die, but you only half healed me, so I'm gonna die anyway - just slower. Thanks for the agony. Not to mention getting us totally lost inside the maze." I shook my head and started to walk away from him.

How could I get out of here? Effonating in and out was not possible. The only reason it worked before was because I appeared at the mouth of the tunnel. Once inside of it, the Lorren screwed with magic and bent it to its will. His laughter made me stop. I paused to look at him. His stance loosened. It was like he didn't know what to think of me, which was fine because I didn't care.

"You don't listen," he said exasperated. "My name is Lorren. I didn't say I was thee Lorren. And we aren't lost. I live here. I can take you back to where I found you and let you die alone, even though that's a dumbass idea."

I arched an eyebrow and walked towards him. He was taller than me. Everyone was taller than me. "I seem to be a dumbass girl. So tell me, Mr. Lorren, what would you do, if you were me?"

I regarded him suspiciously. If he was a Valefar, why didn't he drain me when he had the chance? It's what any creature down here would have done. Half of the demons where out trying to find me, so they could take my power for themselves. The other half wanted to capture me so they could hand me over to Kreturus. And one crazy-ass Valefar, named Eric, wanted to kill me so he could have fun watching me die. I shivered.

A tight smile spread across his lips. He didn't like me