CHAPTER 31

Nika

The second my handtouched the box, voices and sensations filled my body like a sudden thunderstorm. Everything was electric and hyper-sensitive to the invasion, but then someone took control. Someone I'd never met but somehow always knew.

I couldn't explain it, but I recognized her right away. The voice in my head bore the same tone and gentleness as my mother's. Her presence was the warm embrace my parents once were. She commanded the space inside my head without effort, and it was like she'd been waiting forever to do it. Like she'd always known this would happen one day and she'd been biding her time to act.

The powerful feeling of fate was a tingle across my skin and head.

Without pause, my grandmother instructed me. "You've done well, Nika. I always knew you would," her time-worn voice echoed in my head while the others tried to find purchase. She hushed them, and warmth touched my face, moving like phantom fingers in a gesture full of love and compassion. "Let me help you first. I can't send him back to the After, only you truly can. You'll understand when the time comes, when you've made your choice, but I can help you scare him so he flees this space." She paused, her hesitation causing me to worry. "So you can save your friend..."

"Save my friend?"

"He's reaped his soul, and now he's using your friend's body as a shield." Her words hit like a blow to the chest, and I was staggered by it.

He'd collected Lev's soul? Did that mean...

For a second, I couldn't breathe. For a heartbeat, I didn't know how to rectify the death of my one and only friend—the only person who'd kept me safe and had supported me every day since I met him.

But my grandmother went on before the emotion could wreak havoc on my heart and body, "He's vulnerable in that body despite using it as a shield. He can be trapped inside it, and that will be how we show him what you're capable of now that you have me as your guide."

I wasn't sure what she meant, but I let her take over the same way I had Tometi when he transformed my body into a bear. Time wasn't on our side, so I didn't want to waste any of it when my sweet friend's life was forfeit should I hesitate.

As my eyes caught Lev's, my throat tight with fear, I let go and surrendered to her will. Magic fled my body, taking Silas out of the danger zone, and my grandmother's presence filled me from head to toe. I felt her in every shift of my arms and legs; in every breath I took to steady myself and bring calm back to my head and body. It was difficult to explain, but while I still had total control, everything she wanted me to do I did.

The air shuddered around us, time coming to a complete stop before I could take another breath. The blue flames at every corner of the room froze in their silver plates, and the fog around us ceased movement altogether. My hands glided through the air, forming various symbols with fingers and magic. The necklace around my neck became a bright, multicolor glow. Then foggy, smoky pink snaked and coiled, taking to the air and shaping each ancient Fae mark.

I'd never seen anyone move as fast or gracefully as my hands did performing the fluid dance in front of me those first few seconds, never hesitating or sparing a thought.

The speed was unnatural even for our kind. Each symbol created with pink magic appeared then reformed in the air in front of my chest—a dizzying sequence I felt like I knew but couldn't explain why. The haunting woman's voice in my head gave life to mine, the chants of the old Fae tongue whispered so softly I couldn't even hear them.

But the air was electrified by the onset of chanting and symbol creation, and my enemy quickly caught on that I'd found her—I'd gotten the one person he was trying to steal when he came looking for the Box of Black Souls.

She whispered inside my head while symbols continued to reform in front of my chest. She'd fought to escape Rilas and find me instead. Her soul was untainted by corruption and the strongest power in that box. He wanted her abilities the most for that very reason. More so, Rilas knew that by collecting her soul he'd deprive me of the only person who could help me defeat him.

So, today, we'd already won.

Lev's eyes widened, catching sight of the quick, practiced movements that flowed like a dance in front of my chest, guiding pink magic and twining it with blue. The floor glowed underfoot, causing my friend's...no, my enemy's eyes to stray down to it.

"You old witch—" was all he managed to say before light lifted off the floor and took his body's shape, cutting off all ability to move or speak.

"This won't hold him long, but I know what your friend means to you, and it'll send the message that Rilas is no longer the only one who knows how to outwit an opponent," my grandmother explained in my head as my hand movements changed.

A sensation I recognized from the time I'd stolen the souls right from Rilas flooded then fled my body. White tendrils escaped Lev's chest, winding around his body and finding their way across the space. One made its way to the necklace glowing on my chest. But before the rest could find their way to me, Lev collapsed and Rilas materialized out of black smoke, no longer using my friend's body to hide and now free of my magic's hold.

"You won't save her, old hag. She was always meant to be mine, and you know better than anyone else that when the time comes, she'll come looking for me. She'll crave me," the carbon-copy of my mercenary spat before, with a vicious growl, he blasted the room with magic.

I only barely managed to shield myself and Silas before it struck out and covered the room. Time moved, the flames once more flickering and gyrating over their silver plates. Rilas was gone. He'd fled like my grandmother said he would. But his words hung in the air—an omen I couldn't pretend didn't bother me. What did he mean when he said I'd crave him?

I sucked in a relieved breath.

Whispers echoed inside my head, but my grandmother spoke, and they quieted, "He's collected far more souls from the box than I expected. He's stolen some powerful Soul Collectors—souls that are drenched in corruption and madness. I fear what he might do with them when the time comes. But thankfully, I was able to collect your friend's soul, so Rilas will hesitate to fight you now that he knows I can help you steal them back. He'll want to be cleverer than that. For now, you're safe."

I opened my mouth to speak even though she was in my head, but before I could utter a word, I was wrapped in Silas's powerful arms, his rapid heartbeat in my ear. I looked at him, the fear, the relief, and the confusion etched into the lines deepening along his brow before my gaze tracked back over to Lev. My fallen friend was still lifelessly lying on the floor.

Tears reached my eyes, but my grandmother's reassurance radiated inside my head. "You can still save him. His soul still has life attached to it, so you can return it to him, child. Just release him. You know what to do. Let that feeling guide you."

Pushing away from Silas, I knelt next to my friend. Throat tight, I brushed away wet blue hair from his eyes and touched his cold arm, taking all that love, all that feeling I held for him and letting it go.

"Love, what are you doing?" Silas started, searching the room for signs we'd been detected. "I'm sorry, little bird, but we need to leave now. The lad is gone and they'll be looking for us. They know someone's here."

Before he could go on, the same white tendril I collected earlier peeked out from my necklace and curled through the air, seeking something.

"Bloody hell..." Silas cursed under his breath. "What the bleeding fuck is that?"

I didn't answer, just watched the little wispy ball of light move curiously through the air, almost as if it was confused and not sure where to go. It wasn't clear to me why I thought it'd respond to my voice, but I called out to it. "Don't leave me, Lev. I still need you. Come back."

The vibrating light moved through the air, bouncing a little in a way that was oddly cute. Then it swirled and shot down straight for Lev's lifeless body. The second it disappeared, Lev sucked in a breath, and his eyes shot open.

"Fuck, that was so weird, Niks," he whispered in a raspy voice as if he'd only just woken up. "I feel like I've seen some shit and I'm just like...really glad to be back in my own body, you know?"

"You and me both, Lev," I whispered with a laugh, trying to keep the tears threatening to fall from giving me away. "Can you get up? We need to get out of here."

"Seems like my legs haven't figured out how to function yet, sorry," Lev replied sheepishly.

I made a move to lift him, but to my surprise, it was Silas who rushed over and got my friend onto his back. "This is the only piggyback ride I ever give you, you cute wanker. Be grateful."

With the travel stone already in hand, Silas grabbed me around the waist, pulled me in close with a quick kiss to my head, and without another word, we left the Dark Fae Society behind.