The Spindle of Fate. Defeating the Dark. Sergey Bilarin

hurrying to come in sight?»

      Kid, making the table, was about to drop the ice-cream bowl he was holding. Borya looked at him expressively and slowly said:

      «Rather no, than yes. I feel just pleasantly tired. I feel like reading a good book before I go to bed.»

      «The library is upstairs,» Kid announced.

      «What are your plans for tomorrow?» Grisha asked when Boris went upstairs.

      «I wish I knew,» Marina said wistfully. «We’ll see tomorrow. Do you have any suggestions?»

      «Yes. Let’s go to the beach, have a swim, sunbathe, pick up shells, you know…»

      «Oh, I found one today, a bonny thing, strange.»

      Boris climbed the stairs and looked around. With a gimlet eye he noticed an amazingly shaped shell on a carved little table next to a mirror. His eyes lit up. He triumphantly came up to it, a smile playing on his face. As his fingers lightly touched the shell, his face suddenly fell and his smile faded. But just as quickly it returned, even brighter, and his eyes narrowed cunningly. He shouted:

      «Marina! I have spotted a wonderful seashell – up here. How about giving it to me as a gift?»

      Hearing these words, Poryvayev grew pale, sprang up to his feet, waved his hands as if trying to prevent her from answering. However, the young girl as if not noticing his odd behavior, said loudly:

      «Take it! My pleasure!»

      Grisha dashed upstairs. He ran up to the little table where the spindle-shaped shell was lying. He looked at it and muttered:

      «Is that it? That exact thing?»

      Boris viewed an answer redundant. Grisha took a combat position, put his hands in front of him and started muttering something. Zimin raised his hands above his head as if stretching. He was waiting for a severe magical blow ready to deflect it. However, Poryvayev hesitated and stood still. The demon wanted to attack first, but gave it another thought. They both froze like flies in amber. Kid slowly entered the room.

      «I am the warden of this house,» he said calmly. «The house does not want you to feud in it. You are welcome to do so outside. However, inside you suppress your ambitions and live in peace.»

      «Then have him give me this thing,» Grisha whispered loudly.

      «I will give it to you only if my room is across the hall from Marina’s.» Poryvayev looked pleadingly at Kid.

      «Good,» a mysterious force let them go. The warden left the room. Grisha snatched the shell:

      «You’re a dope,» he said abruptly to Zimin and raised the shell over his head as if it were a trophy.

      «So are you,» Zimin shot back.

      Poryvayev suddenly went limp and he slumped to the floor like a marionette whose strings had just been cut. Grinning, Zimin looked down at the body then turned away and began to examine the spines of the books.

      ***

      When the angel, his eyes crazy with happiness, returned to the heavenly kingdom, his big brothers immediately paid attention to the demon’s odd behavior. Then they confirmed that that shell was indeed the artifact, something like a cell phone. However, Marina had already used the Spindle of Fate tuning it to her frequency. For this reason, the shell itself was nothing more than a bonny thing, nice looking but, nevertheless, useless. As for the angel, he had to go back right away to find a solution to that problem. Joking, his good-natured big brothers bade him farewell and saw him off back to our world.

      ***

      Poryvayev sat down, palpated his head, found a large bruise at the back, and winced. He didn’t catch up Zimin before he reached the door.

      «I thought you would be absent longer,» the demon said and laughed. «I used to think that the Angel’s ire was a metaphor. Now I can see that it exists. Live and learn. Sorry for the platitude.»

      «Don’t tempt me; a lot of bans have been dropped,» his voice was resolute and confident. «I am on an important mission.»

      «Oh, yeah! Now you understand that the ring doesn’t work, the shell is useless. Take the bull by the horns, to be more exact, take care of Marina,» Boris was whispering, «the Spindle can be operated through her. I will gain her trust. She will become my tool without knowing it.»

      «I will not allow you to do it,» the angel replied to him.

      «How will you be able to stop me?» the demon broke into a smile. «Will you kill me or what? Perhaps, you will take care of the girl yourself. She is pretty good from the human point of view».

      «Stop it,» Grisha growled. «You know that angels are chaste.»

      «Who’s forcing you to sleep with her?» the devil said with a leer. «Just a little fooling around and the girl with the Spindle is yours. To the greater glory of your boss, right?»

      «I’ll say it once more: do not tempt me,» Grisha said, stamping his foot for emphasis.

      «OK, as you wish, I am gone,» Zimin turned round and walked up to the door. «Time to act. If you don’t want to take part in this merry competition, just step aside and observe. Enjoy watching virtuosos of seduction at work.» He touched the door handle to open it.

      The angel tried to stop him:

      «Don’t do that!»

      «Look and see how to do it!» Boris triumphantly declared opening the double door wide. «Sorry, I made you wait,» he graciously addressed Marina upon returning to the living room.

      «Grisha, by any chance is that the shell that I gave to Borya?» Marina was curiously studying the angel’s reddened face.

      He had no sooner opened his mouth than the demon interjected:

      «My dear, it is indeed. Grisha managed to wheedle it out of me. He told me he collects shells as mementos of his wonderful vacations. I simply couldn’t refuse him. He was so eloquent.» And he glanced scornfully at the angel.

      «Uh, yes. That seems about right,» Grisha murmured. And screwing up his courage, Grisha turned to Marina and said:

      «Marina, I want to give you a gift. Take this ring, hope you will like it.»

      Out of his pocket he pulled a ring with a skull on it; two large rubies were glowing in the eye sockets.

      «It is so gothic!» Marina exclaimed and put the ring on her finger. «It matches my dress perfectly, doesn’t it?»

      «You are beautiful!» The boys assured her all together.

      «I found this attire in my aunt’s closet. Kid said that I look like Isolda a lot.»

      «I have a gift for you as well. And it comes straight from the heart,» Zimin said. «Please take this pendant. It will tell you when your guardian angel is close by».

      Demon came up to Marina and in a showy and dramatic fashion, draped a chain with a heart-shaped pendant with little wings around her neck. The pendant glowed warmly.

      «Dinner is served!» Kid appeared out of nowhere. «Help yourselves.»

      The friends had no sooner enjoyed the dessert than something hummed boomingly downstairs. Kid was gone like the wind. The boys hurled after him, having only time to tell Marina:

      «Stay here! Don’t leave!»

      However, the girl did not follow this advice. In a couple of minutes, she was going downstairs to the basement. There she saw a rather curious scene.

      Boris was shaking his finger at a petite, slim young girl with luxurious black hair and a rather revealing outfit. She was holding her hands up in front of her, as if trying to deflect his words. Her eyes were green and full of a fear that gave way to a complete absence