Chapter 58

Chapter 58

FEY

P anic swelled in Fey’s chest as the world around her went completely, impossibly dark. The throne room, the council members, they all disappeared in an instant, swallowed by an unbearable blanket of darkness.

Is this it ? Fey thought, twisting to look around frantically and seeing nothing but solid, black void around her. Am I being controlled?

Panic filled her. Coming here was a mistake, a terrible mistake, Fey realized suddenly. All she and Alice had done was manage to give the Blood Witch access to one of the strongest weapons in the realm. If the Witch could use Fey’s powers against the council…

Her sister. Alice was in danger. Callum, Callum was in danger. If she were being controlled, she wouldn’t be able to protect them, wouldn’t be able to save them…

From herself. From her own power.

But… no. The world was black, Fey realized, but not empty. Somewhere in the dark, she heard Sana gasp in shock. She heard Alice swear. There were sounds around her, distant and muffled, but still there. The crash of a chair falling over as someone stood too fast. Their frantic intakes of breath .

Not controlled, no. They were still there, all of them, still in the throne room. She could feel the ground beneath her feet. Her body was her own, her mind was her own.

So where had all the light gone?

A low, dangerous laugh came from the darkness around her, and Fey felt the blood in her veins turn to ice.

“Oh, you stupid, stupid thing,” came a soft, sensual voice. Bitter laughter followed the words. It was everywhere in the dark, swirling all around her, coming from all directions. It echoed in the empty void around her.

No. Not empty.

Full of shadows.

Kallista, Fey realized, heart pounding. The taste of fear was bitter on her tongue.

“Did you really think you could control me ?” the Demon was saying, and suddenly there was something more in the darkness around them, something dangerous. Something ancient and wild.

Something undying.

The shadows were alive. Full of something awful and vicious and hungry.

RUN , screamed that voice in Fey’s head, an instinct so deep it recognized this threat around her.

But Fey wouldn’t run.

“Fight it, Kallista!” Fey called into the dark. “Don’t you dare let her control you!”

Goddess save them, if she’d been panicked to think about what the Blood Witch could do with her own powers…

What about the powers of a Demon stronger than anything Fey had ever seen? What could she do with this creature, so strong it drove every instinct in Fey to run, run, run, and never look back?

“I don’t need to fight it,” came Kallista’s answer, full of rage and power. It came from the surrounding shadows, from everywhere the light couldn’t touch. Someone was crying in the dark, scared, gasping sobs. Sana, maybe. “Insignificant insect. You think you have the power to control me? I’m older than you could possibly imagine. ”

Fey drew a quick frantic breath as the darkness vanished, shadows pulling away from the walls and coalescing, swirling like a vortex.

Kallista stood in the middle of the throne room, shadows dancing around her, twisting and turning like smoke.

“I have her,” Kallista whispered, eyes unfocused and head tilted to the side. “She’s running. But she can’t escape me now. Not for long.”