10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Celeste

" T he line must always point north, like this. And make it sharper." My mother reached across the space between us where I had drawn the pentagram for the twentieth time, guiding my finger to correct the drawing. Her large, callused palm enveloped my small one, moving with the confidence and care I so clearly lacked.

I watched the blood smear on the floor half a foot to the left of where I had placed it, the soft angles of my star turning sharp enough to cut. It wasn't the first time she had corrected me, so the whole thing had at least nine points, some of them darker where the heavy liquid had dried. The runes inside each had to be redone several times too, so even though I knew them by heart, I could hardly distinguish them.

"Why does this need to be so complicated?" I grumbled when she released my hand. Wiping my fingers on the rag by my feet, I peeked at her to find her smiling.

"So that young, absentminded witches like you don't accidentally summon a demon," she said pointedly, pushing a strand of dark red hair behind her ear. She didn't seem to mind the mess, not even as red stained her cheek.

She had always been like this—unafraid, unabashed, unapologetic. Death and blood were part of her even if the life that shone through her eyes was so brilliant, it made people in our village wonder if maybe she had found a way to prevent her own end. Her face didn't show her age although she had to be well over a hundred .

"Celestia, are you listening?"

I flinched at the reprimand in her voice, focusing my attention back on her words.

"Yes, mother."

She huffed a breath, eyeing me under her delicate brows before dipping her fingers into the bowl of pig's blood and raising them above the empty center of the pentagram. A drop slid off her chipped fingernails, landing in the dead center, but her eyes remained on me.

"This is the most important part, so listen carefully," she said, her voice turning serious as she waited for me to nod. "There are likely more demons in Hell than witches walking the earth. Each demon is unique in their power, in their role, in their goal—just like us. Some yield power, some cunning, some death. It's of utmost importance what—or who—you summon."

I frowned. "I thought you said never to summon a demon."

My mother cocked her head, a soft sigh escaping her lips. "Ignorance has killed more witches than all our enemies combined. No daughter of mine will be felled by it."

The subtle threat in her voice made me shiver, so I focused on her fingers when they slowly dragged over the stone.

Something tickled my memory while I watched her work, her words passing incomprehensibly over my ears. I knew I should pay attention. I knew what she was saying was important, but for the life of me, I couldn't hear another word.

"Estia."

I glanced at my mother's face, but her eyes were cast down, her hand still moving while her mouth pressed in a hard line.

"Estia."

The swirling shadows around us caught my attention, and I studied them with a frown. It dawned on me that we weren't in our house. The room was larger, newer, fashioned from stone and dark wood, with sleek, posh furniture that spoke of wealth and grandeur we didn't have. Heavy curtains hid the large windows, with candles burning quietly in silver candelabras, their long, metal bodies twisted like glowing trees when the light caught onto their surface.

Roman. This was Roman's house.

The thought shocked me, but I knew it was true. I recognized the ornate carvings on the wall, the beautiful, eerie paintings, the grimoires Roman often complained I left everywhere. But how was my mother here? And how was I here when I was…

The thought disappeared before I could finish it. Where was I? I couldn't remember, but I knew it was somewhere I needed to escape from.

"Estia!"

I looked at my mother again, but she was gone. In her place stood my sister, her eyes milky white. Blood poured from the deep incisions on her wrists and throat, soaking the torn green dress she wore and pooling around her in the pentagram.

"Sybil…" I cried out, lunging for her. My hand pressed over the wound on her throat, trying to mend the skin and seal her lifeblood inside, but no matter how hard I tried, the flesh refused to heal. "No, no, no!"

"A serpent's fangs lie hidden behind a smile made of dead promises. For within the folds of jealousy, betrayal lies in wait," Sybil spoke in a hoarse voice, more blood dripping from her mouth with each word. My sister's glassy stare held none of the warmth and cheerfulness I remembered. It was cold and empty.

"What?" I breathed, an icy chill making the hair on my arms stand.

"The Reaper's call draws nigh, where mortal paths all come to an end in the realm of darkness," she continued, the words droning monotonously like she had been repeating them for a long time.

Those words… I remembered them. The night the witches came for me, the night Medina betrayed me, Sybil had finally tapped into her powers and made her first premonition. This premonition.

"Shadows loom where the roots of the blood tree wither and the flame whispers of the end in the winds of fate." Her voice dropped, sharp and icy, sweeping away leaves, flames, and hope. "Yet a new beginning is budding in the earth, fed by death and sacrifice."

More blood, dark and heavy, gushed from the wound, slipping between my trembling fingers. Sybil finally moved, her hands cupping my cheeks gently. Chills locked my body like I had been encased in ice—or maybe it was the look in her eyes now intently staring into mine—but I couldn't move either way.

"Beware the harbingers of chaos," Sybil whispered, drawing so close, her nose pressed against mine. "Unbound and unchecked, they shall unmake the world and plunge it into ruin."

I didn't realize I was holding my breath until my head spun. I was just opening my mouth to ask what it all meant when Sybil smiled. Despite her bloody teeth and dead eyes, the look on her face was eerily reminiscent of the sweet, loving girl I remembered.

"Hurry. "

That was all she said before something yanked me away from her. The world disappeared in a swirl of colors before I landed heavily, lashing out with my magic even before I could get my hair out of my eyes. A whiff of sulfur and death filled my nostrils, and when my spell struck nothing, I spun. A pair of golden eyes stared at me as a maw full of jagged teeth released the back of my dress.

"That was close. She almost got you," Nym spoke in a tense voice while I gaped at him. "You can't trust your senses here. You can't…"

The floor beneath me vanished, and I fell through, reaching out for him in panic. His eyes turned red, and he lunged after me, but then he was gone and I was no longer falling. My landing wasn't that hard this time, but it still forced the air out of my lungs. I crawled to my feet, summoning my magic to protect me, but nothing stirred in the dark.

I was still in Roman's house, however, I had ended up on the top floor, even though I was sure I had fallen down. The place was dark, with no light coming from anywhere except the broken window on the opposite side. The smell of blood had only grown stronger.

I summoned a ball of fire in my hand, squinting against the flames as they crawled up the walls and made me gasp. The hulking forms I had thought were old furniture and crates, were actually bodies, a mesh of muscles and fur covering them. Most stared into the distance, entirely still, while a few breathed their last with their low, wheezing sounds echoing through the floor.

‘Celeste…' one of them said, and it took me a moment to realize they had spoken inside my mind. My gaze found a familiar face, golden eyes staring straight at me like nothing else existed in the world.

"No!" I fell on my knees in front of Isaac, pressing my hand to his muzzle. His eyes fluttered closed and a soft, relieved sigh escaped his bloody maw.

‘I'm… sorry,' he whispered, voice dripping with pain and heartbreak. ‘I held up as long… as I could… waiting for… you.' Each word came out with effort, even in the mindspace we shared, the light in his eyes dimming with every second. ‘I'm happy you are… alive. Please… forgive me.'

His muzzle pressed against my hand in search of more contact—or so I thought. When his body tilted sideways, falling lifelessly to the ground, something in my chest snapped and an agonizing scream tore from me, making the whole house shake like it was about to crumble. Claws or maybe teeth tore me from the inside out, like there was a monster in my chest that was trying to crawl out. This couldn't be happening… This couldn't be real! I couldn't lose him just when we finally found our way to each other!

I reached to shake him awake, but something grabbed me from behind again, yanking me away. I fell, rolling several times until I crashed into a soft, warm body. Looking up, I stared at Nym through teary eyes, his expression only growing more worried.

"Run," he hissed, pushing me away just as something rammed into him with a roar.

I staggered to my feet and ran through the dark, familiar corridors. I could feel the fighting behind me, hear Nym's threatening snarls, but I kept going, knowing he'd be alright. He always was.

The floor abruptly ended, and I flew forward, falling down a flight of stairs I was almost certain wasn't there before. Pain exploded everywhere. I didn't stop at the bottom of it—I kept rolling until I crashed into a large stain-glass window with a red-haired woman on it. The shards tore my skin as it shattered, a million tiny pieces sinking deep into my flesh.

The ground was softer than I expected. Spitting dirt, I realized I hadn't landed on the cobblestone before the mansion, but the garden instead. Except, there was barely anything left of it. The herbs and flowers were uprooted, the trees broken in half as if a hurricane had passed through the place, and in its wake, instead of debris, it had left even more bodies.

Twisted and broken beyond what a living being could survive, they all stared at me with glassy eyes while I dragged my feet through the wreckage. I saw Chester first, his pristine uniform ruined and his neck twisted backward; next to him lay Julia and Kevin, clinging to each other with horror warping their features instead of gentle smiles. A pained sob escaped my mouth as I staggered back, shaking my head. Two more familiar faces caught my attention, and I turned around and threw up. The image of Lily and Jake trapped beneath the ruins with their bodies mangled refused to disappear even when I closed my eyes.

More corpses lie around them—humans, Fae, shifters, even witches. All familiar, all dead.

A roar came from the house behind me and I looked back, searching the windows for Nym's hulking form. I screamed when something grabbed my ankle, kicking in panic, but as my gaze landed on a human hand, I froze.

Laying in a pool of his own blood, Malakai smiled at me despite the pain etched in his features. His legs were torn off, left arm broken in several places. The earth surrounding him was charred like all life and magic had been sucked from it, the plants withered and dead.

"No," I whispered as I dropped to my knees, catching his good hand and pressing it against my chest. Cold, he was so cold. My eyes blurred from the burning tears and when he opened his mouth to speak, I held my breath. The seconds dragged and dragged until his hand slacked in my grip, his beautiful purple eyes going vacant.

This wasn't real. This couldn't be real. They couldn't be dead.

When something snatched me from behind again, I was no longer surprised. The cuts and bruises from being dragged hardly registered until a giant black form collided with my attacker. The smell of sulfur and smoke filled my lungs as I rolled to a stop.

"I told you to run," Nym said when I pushed myself up. One of his arms hung lifelessly by his body, his fur and skin torn in places like some wild animal had tried to tear a chunk out of him.

"What's the point?" I croaked, pushing myself on my wobbly feet. "You can't outrun a nightmare."

Nym reached for me when I tripped, but I raised my hand to stop him. Taking a deep breath and squaring my shoulders, I turned around in search of what I expected to see next. It took only a second to find him, standing not too far away from us.

No, not standing.

Kneeling.

My eyes raked over Roman's battered form, his arms spread as thick, rotting vines encircled his entire body, keeping him in place. The sky behind him was turning pink and even before I took the first step, I knew I'd never reach him in time.

He raised his head. The hope in his eyes broke my heart.

"You came," he whispered, straining against his binds, but their thorns only dug deeper. I could almost feel their bite into my skin, the pain from the torn flesh and dripping desperation. The sun peeked behind the horizon, sliding up his feet and melting the skin and muscles like ice under a flame. Roman screamed, and I found myself screaming with him.

I ran. I ran faster than I had ever run in my life while the fire crawled over his stomach, drawing closer and closer to his heart. I tripped and crashed onto the ground, looking up just as the flesh over his ribs melted, revealing what lay underneath.

I reached a hand toward him, my fingers balling into a fist.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, tears pouring from my eyes. "I love you."

I knew this wasn't real, yet… if that was true, then why did it hurt so much?

Roman's eyes found mine a second before the sun devoured his black, still heart. He didn't scream this time, his body growing slack while the rest of him fell apart. A sob tore from me as I watched his bones fall to the ground, finally free from the vines. The wind picked up his ash, carrying it toward the bright sky.

I took a deep breath, trying to push down the despair that stole my strength. When I felt the presence creep behind me again, my rage finally rose above the heartbreak. I lashed out, sending a torrent of magic toward the invisible hands that had taken everything away from me.

The spell exploded on impact, but as the smoke cleared, there was nothing there. Alone in the deafening silence, I pushed myself up and waited.

The crunch of soft earth made me spin again, both hands raised at the ready. The figure that appeared seemingly out of nowhere stopped, her magic glowing like a halo.

"Mariam," I spat, and her sweet smile widened.

"Took you long enough." She shrugged, looking around with a note of disgust. Her eyes landed on Roman's smoldering bones and she kicked them, snickering when they rolled away. "I had to keep myself busy while you crawled out of the hole you were hiding in. They didn't have to die, but—"

My spell almost took her by surprise, but with a lazy movement of her wrist, she had the blazing fireball redirected to the tree behind her. The flames caught, spreading like the branches were soaked with oil.

"You know what, Celeste?" Mariam clicked her tongue, her own hands rising as if she was coming in for a hug. "You have brought this on yourself."

Energy cracked from the contraptions on her fingers, burning brighter and brighter. I conjured a ward to protect me, taking a step back to give myself space to move in case I had to dodge, but her spell was too fast. It tore through my defenses like a knife through paper, going straight for my chest.

A dark shadow moved in front of me, taking the hit with such force, it sent us both flying back. Nym's long, distorted limbs wrapped around me, shielding me as we hit the ground. Trapped beneath his body, I shoved with all my might, but he didn't move. I called to my magic, ready to push him off when he whimpered.

Turning my head, I found myself staring into one of his large red eyes, the other one was gone, black blood leaking from the empty socket.

"Nym!" I gasped, my fingers digging into his fur. "Can you… get up?"

He closed his remaining eye, shifting his body as if he was trying to do just that, but then he fell, his weight forcing a pained grunt out of me.

"I'm… sorry," he said, his voice barely a whisper. "I wanted to… protect you till… the very end. But I…" When he looked at me again, a large tear mixed with the blood matting his fur. I shook my head. "I don't think… I can… any longer…"

My vision blurred, and I didn't realize I was crying until my body rocked with the sobs .

"It has been… an honor," Nym whispered, his words growing fainter and fainter. "If I had to choose again… I'd always… choose you… Mistress."

Before I could say anything, the light in his eye dimmed and his head bobbed to the ground.

"Nooo!" I shrieked, my magic pushing against his massive body. Just before I got free, something even heavier landed on top of him, pinning us both down. I screamed in rage, trashing desperately to get free so I could tear to pieces that goddamn bitch, but Nym's body didn't move an inch.

A shadow fell over us, then a face appeared in my sight. My mouth fell open, a curse already ready on my lips, when I realized it wasn't Mariam who smiled at me from above.

"Medina?" I gasped and her eyes narrowed in a wicked delight.

"It's time to go where you belong, my dearest friend," she said in a voice that was both familiar and foreign. "And this time, stay there. There is nothing for you here anymore."

I opened my mouth to reply when a loud crack reverberated from beneath me. The earth ruptured, and I clawed for purchase, my nails tearing off as Nym's body dragged me down.

Darkness swallowed us as I screamed, and Medina's laughter grew further and further away. The smell came before the light, the stench of sulfur and smoke engulfing me as the sight of endless fires lit up my world.

Then we crashed.

I should have been dead. I should have been broken beyond repair and splashed like a cracked egg. But I wasn't. I was whole yet perfectly shattered by all the pain and loss I had endured.

Crawling from underneath Nym's limp form, I barely escaped his heavy, broken arms when my head hit something. Looking up, I felt my blood freeze when I found Beleth staring down at me with a menacing grin, his eyes black from corner to corner.

"I guess you're stuck with me forever," he smirked, the shadows sliding out of his back and looming over me like a giant monster. "I told you this was your last life."

His attack came without warning, the tendrils of darkness wrapping tightly around me until everything turned black.

I screamed, fighting against my binds when I realized they weren't made of air but fur. Looking up through the locks of wild hair, I found myself staring into a pair of golden eyes .

"It was just a nightmare," Nym whispered, his hands relaxing on my shoulders. He brought a clawed finger to my face, pushing away the strands falling in front of it. "It wasn't real. Whatever you saw, it wasn't real."

Without thinking, I threw my arms around his neck, squeezing tightly. Sobs erupted in an uncontrollable burst, so all I could do was cling to him and wait for all of those emotions I had been trying to suppress to get out.

Nym didn't move at first, but then his rough arms were tightening around me with a gentleness a creature from Hell shouldn't be capable of. He said nothing, just held me, running his nails through my tangled hair while I cried and trembled like a child. I had no idea how long I sniveled and rocked, but when my mind cleared enough, I was lying with my head on his leg, silent and spent.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he finally spoke, his voice sounding deafeningly strident after the silence we had shared for so long. I considered it for a moment, then pushed myself up.

"You were dead," I croaked, rubbing my eyes, only to realize they were dry. I couldn't remember when I had stopped crying either, but it must have been a while. "Everyone was dead."

I dropped my hand into my lap and noticed he had bent down so his giant head was almost at the level of my face. His eyes searched my face until I finally looked at him.

"It was just a dream," he repeated, enunciating each word. "There are very few things that can kill me, Mistress, so even if my body is damaged, I'll find a way to return to you. As for everyone else…" He straightened up, trying to smile. "I'm sure they are fine, waiting for you. Roman won't allow anything to happen to them."

I nodded, even though every time I closed my eyes, one of the dead faces appeared, staring accusingly at me. I had no idea if this was my mind's twisted way of telling me something or if I desperately wanted to take things back to how they were, but one thing was as clear as day.

Despite the lies and the secrets, Nym had always had my back. I didn't know why I thought this alone wasn't enough, why I expected him to be entirely devoted to me without ever sparing a thought for himself. Maybe because normal familiars made their mistresses the center of the universe and lived and died with them. But he was more than that from the start. He might not be human, but he was a sentient being with free will and the right to make his own choices .

And after over a thousand years of loyalty… he had earned more than that. Just because he had secrets and… whatever his relationship was with Beleth and Cyrus, it didn't take away from what we had. What we had been through.

Because even when my life wasn't in danger, he had always been there for me.

Advising. Consoling. Cheering.

Beleth sent him to guard my body. He stayed to guard my heart.

I dropped my head, leaning my forehead against his chest. His skin was uncomfortably hot, but it grounded me like nothing else could.

"I'm sorry," I said. The sharp intake of air was the only indication he had heard me.

"You have nothing to apologize for," he said softly, sliding a finger under my chin and pushing my face up. His razor-sharp nail remained poised at my throat, but not a sliver of fear entered my mind. "You did nothing wrong. I—"

"No," I cut him off before he could finish. "You did nothing wrong, either. Beleth did. It's unfair to blame you for something you had no control over. And even if you did… you have the right to your own secrets. You never kept anything from me that would put my life at risk." His eyes softened, and something like a smile pulled on his thin, bloodless lips. "You are mine. My familiar, my companion, my friend. I won't let him ruin that for us."

Nym bowed his head, his ears pulling back as a faint tremble rocked his body. I caught his hand between mine and squeezed.

"I need your help," I said, taking a steadying breath while I waited for him to meet my gaze. Fear crept into my stomach, twisting and turning until I could barely sit still. "I must get back. Now. I won't forgive myself if something bad happens to the people I care about."

"It was just a nightm—" he started, but I pinned him with a glare.

"I know it's just a nightmare, but that doesn't mean it can't become reality!" I snapped without meaning to. I took a deep breath, trying to push the panic away. "They are up there, alone. I know they're not weak, but they don't know what they're facing." Medina's face swam before my eyes and I dug my nails into my palms. I had long since given up on my revenge. She no longer mattered to me because she was in the past. My enemy now was Mariam and this time, I wasn't going to let her take everything from me. "I must go."

Nym stared, his chest expanding as he released a sigh .

"If that is what you wish, I will help. But please remember." His voice softened, and he added. "If you die, there will be no more going back."

Smiling felt like trying to use magic while wearing suppressing cuffs—impossible. Yet, somehow, I managed. Nym tensed.

"Beleth…" Nym started as if reading my mind, but I held up a hand.

"I have an idea," I said, intertwining my fingers so they would stop trembling. "It's risky, but I think it will work. It has to work."