Chapter 15

CHAPTER15

Rhys

The parlor Crowushered us into reeked of aged incense and secrets long buried. Ornate tapestries cloaked the windowless walls, muting any ambient sounds from the club beyond. The chamber felt heavy, laden with sorceries that pressed like a physical weight.

My instincts bristled in warning, but Seraphina showed no hesitation, threading her fingers comfortingly through mine. I envied her faith that some redemption awaited within these occult depths. My hope had been so often betrayed that I now viewed such promises as siren songs, luring the desperate into treacherous shoals.

But for Seraphina, I would tread these dangerous waters once more. Her belief I could be saved shone too brightly to risk dimming with my ingrained doubts. And so I held my tongue, watching warily as Crow lit candles around the room with a theatrical sweep of her arm. Their meager, earthly flames seemed to shy from the space’s endemic gloom.

“Make yourselves at home,” our hostess purred with a scarlet smile. As she swayed towards a bell pull in the corner, I gripped Seraphina close, uneasy about leaving her unguarded even for a moment. Sensing my tension, she leaned her head soothingly against my shoulder.

“All will be well,” she murmured.

I pressed my cheek into her hair, clinging to her optimism like a talisman against gathering darkness. But the weight of bitter experience wrapped me in leaden chains not so easily shed.

With a jarring chime, the sconces lining the walls flickered to life, casting everything in lurid shades of crimson. The panels covering them were etched with leering demons posed in sordid tableaus. My skin crawled anew, but Seraphina only tilted her head curiously, taking in our surroundings with open interest. Her courage was a clarion call, emboldening me to quiet my misgivings for now.

Crow reappeared, wheeling a tea cart laden with stream-wisp candles and a dusty bottle. “Now we can begin in earnest,” she declared, undeniable glee edging her smile. Dread crept through my veins like ice melt. What had we stumbled into?

With a snap of her fingers, flames erupted in the carved hearth, unnatural chill blue instead of ruddy warmth. The occult lighting painted Crow’s face with menacing shadows as she poured three glasses of ink-black liqueur.

“Brace yourselves, my dears, for we venture into strangeness tonight,” Crow said, her green eyes glinting knowingly. “I shall harness forces beyond mundane ken to part the veil shrouding your destiny... To your freedom,” she toasted, smiling over the rim at me.

Did she know her tongue gave honeyed shape to my most vulnerable dream? I froze, torn between hope’s consuming fire and the cold warnings of reason.

But Crow’s smoky gaze held only kindness beneath the theatrics. “I mean you no deceit, winged one,” she assured me gently. “Now drink, and we shall unveil the whisperings of your heart.”

I searched her earnest eyes a moment more, then drained my glass in a long swallow. No turning back now. At once, the world gradually blurred at the edges, a feeling of weightlessness overtaking my limbs. Seraphina’s arm across my back was the only anchor remaining. I clung to her trusting essence through the gathering fog.

Crow’s voice seemed to echo strangely inside my head as she began her ritual invocation. The tongues of witchflame swelled higher in answer to her call, their lambent glow casting rippling shadows across the walls. Sinuous shapes twisted around us, both phantom and real.

Though power thrummed tangibly in the air, I registered no active malice. Indeed, a profound hush fell, a tranquil resonance that slowed each breath and heartbeat. Fear and doubt slipped from my shoulders as magic, older than memory, rose to embrace us. Despite myself, I began to hope.

Across the room, an image flickered into being amidst the witchflame—a face I would recognize anywhere. Seraphina. Her beloved features in those first stolen moments crystallized before me in luminous detail. I yearned towards it helplessly, this visage that had sparked an enduring beacon inside my gloomy spirit.

More visions phantomed into view, reshaping the smoky shadows—Seraphina’s silver hair glinting in the moonlight as she walked the midnight grounds... The graceful arch of her throat bared in the library, ignoring my helpless longing... Her shy smile whenever our eyes met across noisy crowds, a secret meant solely for me.

Each vision kindled a deeper yearning, unveiling a tapestry of moments I had almost convinced myself were imagined. Before Seraphina, my heart’s inner chambers had been walled off for years, bereft of hope or desire. I had resolved to walk in solitude, awaiting only the release death would grant.

But seeing her that fated night, something unlocked within me. A chest buried miles deep stirred, cracking open to sacred possibility. In her light, I glimpsed shards of the man I had been, so long forgotten—capable of mischief, laughter, dreaming. Of love. She alone held the power to resurrect him.

The visions shifted, displaying tantalizing moments not yet realized—Seraphina whispering she loved me... Tracing tender fingers over my gargoyle wings... A dazzling glimpse of her walking towards me in a gauzy wedding dress, grey eyes shining in sheer bliss...

I jolted as if pierced. Our marriage? Could I truly dare shape hope to such breathtaking heights? The yearning echoed through every chamber of my parched and longing soul, summoning humiliating tears.

Gentle hands captured my face, guiding me back. Seraphina. Her eyes brimmed with answering emotion, reflecting my impossible desire back at me. Through blurred vision, I saw she burned with that same sacred longing, brighter than any witchfire.

“Do you see now your heart’s true desire?” Seraphina asked, hushed with revelation. There was only one answer I could give. Eyes closed, I drew her into a kiss to seal the covenant written on our souls. No magic compelled me now, but love’s grace alone.

The ghostly light slowly faded around us, leaving only a trace of woodsmoke behind. We parted reluctantly, this new understanding glowing between us. What words could suffice?

Crow discretely busied herself refreshing our drinks. But a knowing smile played about her lips. “I believe we found the ritual enlightening?” she inquired with playful understatement.

“That’s putting it mildly,” Seraphina admitted wryly. “So, where does this leave us?” She turned to me, clearly willing to follow wherever I led next on our shared path. Tenderness overwhelmed me anew. I drew her close, letting joy rise unfettered for the first time in lifetimes.

“It leaves us side by side, facing whatever future awaits together.” No curse could stand before us if we remained united. Once, I had built walls to shield myself from pain. But no more. Seraphina saw me fully, broken places and all, and loved what she found. It was time I learned to do the same for the man behind the monster she believed in.

Tonight we had glimpsed destiny’s shape—two lives, two wandering paths, now beautifully intertwined. I knew not where this journey would end, but with her, the darkness no longer seemed so vast or cold. Her tender light would always guide me home.