CHAPTER TWELVE

"I thought you might say that."

Sigyn stared at Loki for a long moment, the sinister smile never fading from her lips. Loki's heart hammered against his chest. He had to stop her…attack her, apologize, manipulate her, but he couldn't. Something in the air held him back, weighing him down like a cocoon of overheated blankets threatening to mummify him in the wake of a nightmare.

"Sigyn," he pleaded quietly.

Her smile shattered. She let out a mad, broken scream that seemed to catch in her throat before ringing through the air, and kicked Darcy with the heel of her boot. She upended the bottle completely, her face contorting into an ugly sneer.

Darcy gasped audibly as the stream of venom rained down onto her back. She made a faint, muffled noise in the back of her throat; Loki saw that her eyes were brimming with tears again.

Sigyn snarled incoherently and gave the bottle a rough shake. A wave of venom splashed down on Darcy's back like a slap. She whimpered again, her eyes meeting Loki's for a fraction of a second before looking down again. Loki flinched at the look in her eye; he knew what was going to happen seconds before it did.

Darcy screamed.

Loki screwed his eyes shut as he heard her shriek dissolve into hysterical sobs, curling his hands furiously into fists. Wait it out…She won't kill Darcy, she can't if she wants you alive…She can't torture her indefinitely…But how long would it be before the venom ran out, before Darcy blacked out? She could hold on for hours, physically, if not emotionally.

She screamed again as another round of venom poured down upon her. Loki jerked as though the sound were a physical blow to him, a jolt of electricity through his entire body. He hadn't thought it possible that there could be a worse pain in the world than the agony inflicted by the venom upon his bare skin. He was wrong. I'm so sorry, Darcy…I'm so sorry…

Sigyn laughed. "Oh, look," she simpered, "he's not trying to stop me. He thinks that if he just stays quiet, I'll eventually give up, because I don't want to kill her. Is that it?"

Loki didn't respond. He would not give her a reaction again. He felt as though his blood was freezing, his stomach was turning in knots; his heartbeat was uneven and hard against his ribcage, but he would not let Sigyn see his fear. He couldn't let her know that she was right. He would not make that mistake again.

Sigyn, realizing that he was refusing to react, answered her own question. "I think that's exactly what you were planning. But it's not going to work," she said sweetly. "Do you know why?" He didn't reply. She pressed on anyway. "Because Medea left me with another bottle," she whispered. Loki heard the clink of two glasses touching and opened his eyes. Between Sigyn's fingers was a second, larger vial—a vial filled with bright gold liquid. Loki's eyes widened. "Oh," she said breathily, "you know this potion."

"Healing elixir," he said. He kept his face smooth, but his throat went dry. Oh no…He closed his eyes again. He couldn't let her see his terror, or the tears brimming in his eyes.

She smirked. "One drop of this, and I can make little Darcy here right as rain. And you know what happens once I heal her?"

Loki blinked. He felt tears rolling down his cheeks, but he couldn't fight them anymore, now that he realized what he had done, what he had condemned Darcy to. This couldn't be happening…Please…please…leave her alone. She's done nothing wrong. I'm the one to blame.

Sigyn raised her eyebrows with relish. She spoke in a low voice, enunciating every word. "The game—starts—all—over—again." She chuckled. "It will never end. Every second of every day for the rest of my life, I will hurt her. And every day, I will heal her, and the whole magnificent cycle will begin anew." She frowned slightly, glancing at the vial in her hand. Her lips quirked up in the corners, too snide to be a smile. "It seems," she said, "that I am out of venom." Loki watched her, wide-eyed with horror, as she reached into the folds of her dress to retrieve some new horror. She withdrew a dagger, tracing her finger along the tip of it with a look of detached curiosity. "Good thing I have a back-up plan." She moved towards Darcy, holding the knife a fraction of an inch above her skin. Loki tensed and stared intently at Darcy's face. She didn't respond to the knife. She merely looked back at him with a look of unfrightened certainty. He couldn't take it any longer.

"Stop." Loki pressed his hand against the invisible barrier between him and Darcy. He shuddered slightly. "I'll do it."

"You will pledge your love to me?" Loki nodded fervently. "Once you marry Darcy and make her immortal?" He nodded again. Sigyn frowned. "How do I know you're not lying?"

"I swear it," he said darkly, his voice seeming oddly hollow, detached from the way he sounded in his head. He licked his lips. "I promise," he said, "that I will wed Darcy Lewis for the purpose of making her immortal, so that I, by extension, may also be truly immortal. Once my immortality is reestablished, I shall pledge my love to you."

"No loopholes," Sigyn said slowly. He shook his head. She pursed her lips, considering, combing through his words for any possible exception or technicality. She found none. "I accept your terms," she said quietly. She stowed the knife.

Loki went almost visibly limp with relief, every tense muscle in his body suddenly at rest. He sighed softly.

Sigyn scowled darkly between him and Darcy. "You have an hour," she said coolly. Without another word, she left the room. The false stone wall re-materialized in her wake.

AN: I was planning to write the wedding scene (which explains a lot of the questions you have been asking in reviews, so bear with me) but unfortunately, something very bad has happened in the city next to where I live, and there are several people who live there who are currently in harm's way who I'm quite worried about, and I can't make myself write any more when I'm agitated. More to come tomorrow or Friday, though, can't guarantee which.