Chapter 33

Chapter

Thirty-Three

SILAS

I watch Callisto disappear and my focus stays fixed on him.

"Stay on task," Madden snaps as he draws my attention back to the duke's men who are flooding into the room. Clearly, they'd been prepared for an attack, and are more than ready to keep us at bay.

"Dandelion, protect Callisto," I bark as I see him rushing to attack a group of men.

Dandelion takes a wide path around me, like he's a bit reluctant to deal with my magic, before he barrels through a man and rushes after Callisto. At least with him by Callisto's side, I feel more confident.

"Silas, can you take control of the room?" Madden asks.

With only Madden left to protect, I step to the center of the room and push my magic out. The darkness spreads out, collecting all who are in the room with it as Madden takes his spot by my side, much as he'd done for most of the war. By directing my magic away from him, Madden can move about easily while the others are affected. But what makes Madden invaluable is that my magic only works on people, not the beasts he can interact with. While intelligent animals seem to fear me, Madden assures me that they don't respond to the darkness, which allows him to look through the eyes of an animal, even when essentially blinded by my magic. I can't even see what animal is aiding him, but he's moving with ease, knowing where to step as he protects me from the undead that I can't affect.

Some of the souls from the recently deceased wrap around my wrist, brushing against my skin before I send them out. They flash through the darkness, tearing out the souls that remain. And the more they destroy, the more souls I have to fight for me. All I have to do is stand there and watch them destroy.

Even if it's not my hands that kill them, each life that's destroyed is taken by me. Back in the war, as long as others were there to protect me, I could handle a hundred people without moving. This magic is both a curse and a blessing, depending on how you look at it. Even so, it often leaves me hating myself, hating what I can do… and how easy it is for me to destroy.

How easy it is for me to become a monster.

The last man falls, and the souls return to me, so I cut their ties to me immediately. I can't hang on to them in the hopes of using them against the next group of enemies, I have to release them quickly or my control over them wanes; I fear they won't find peace if that happens.

The lights within the room return and I look over at Madden, who lowers his weapon, then back at the bodies strewn around the room… so many bodies.

"Don't let Callisto come back into this room," I whisper.

"Silas, we have to stop this before more die. Focus on what's in front of you, not what you yourself fear," Madden says, voice quiet.

I glare at him. "Madden."

He spares me a quick glance. "You're not the monster you like to assume you are."

"I'm not so sure about that," I say as I hurry down the hallway where Callisto disappeared. He wasn't that far ahead of me, but I don't want to leave him without help for too long.

Madden mutters something under his breath, and I'm sure it's something about how stubborn I am.

The hallway is empty, but I can hear noise coming from through a doorway at the end of it. Running, I reach the doorway and see Callisto standing next to Dandelion, facing King Samuel. His vines have the king pinned against the wall where the man thrashes and screams, enraged he can't escape the hold.

Callisto turns to look at me and relief crosses his face, his illusion no longer in place. "I don't know what the fuck to do!"

"The coin?" I ask.

"It's just a damn useless piece of junk," he says as he waves it around.

The king tears forward and one of the vines snaps. Callisto's attention quickly shifts back to the king as I rush toward him a moment before my foot stops moving and I stumble to a stop. Slowly, I look down as a thick mist escapes from the ground. It wraps around my ankles, refusing to let me go as a circle begins to glow around me. And right there… right in the middle of the floor is a black coin… which must be the coin that Prince Eli mentioned.

"Silas!" Callisto yells, but it sounds like he's at the far end of a tunnel.

Instead, I feel like my body is being weighed down while floating at the same time. What the fuck is happening…

Is this because I'm a monster? Am I a monster?

No, fuck. It's whatever this thing is doing to me that's making me think that.

But is it? Callisto is going to be horrified by me. Disgusted by what I've done. He's going to hate me. He's going to?—

What the fuck is happening to me?

"Silas, what?—"

I shove Madden as everything grows foggy. All I know is that I have to go to him . I have to turn around and I need to destroy them…. I need to?—

And that's when everything goes dark.