38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Samara

M y head was pounding. Again. And this time, it wasn't just the head.

I tried to push myself up, but my hands were shaking so much, I crashed back onto the ground. No, not ground. Bed. I was in a small, but soft bed, covered by clean covers and wearing… clean clothes.

I wasn't sure why that startled me at first but I gathered all my strength and sat upright. My body tilted back as I lost my balance and landed heavily on the mattress.

Groaning, I rolled onto my hands and knees, wincing as the bandages under my pajamas tightened painfully over my skin. Someone had bothered to tend to my wounds. Meticulously, it seemed.

Wounds. The attack. The hunter. Mariam!

"Lily!" I gasped, rushing out of bed only for my wobbly feet to crumble beneath me. I fell on the ground, pain shooting through my thigh where one of the blades had torn the muscle. I wasn't fully healed, which meant I couldn't have been unconscious that long. Or perhaps it wasn't me who healed them, but whoever put on those bandages hadn't bothered to suppress my magic.

I didn't get it. Why would they let me have a weapon? Why would …

A door creaked nearby, and I looked up, blinking against the darkness of the room. A light buzzed overhead, and I shielded my eyes, watching through my fingers as a pair of feet strode toward me.

"You're awake. Good." A familiar voice spoke and any hope I held about what happened being a dream vanished.

I let my arm fall, studying the woman looming over me. I didn't like one bit how she stood with her hands on her hips, staring down at me, but I wasn't sure I could get up and I didn't want her to see how weak I was.

"I take it you tried to contact him already and failed?" she said, cocking her head to the side. When I didn't reply, she added with a smirk. "Mathias, I mean. Assuming you did, you would have figured out the room was warded. You can't translocate or communicate out of it." Her eyes lowered to my hands as I balled them into fists to stop their trembling in anger. The thought hadn't even crossed my mind until she mentioned it. I was such an idiot! Her smirk widened, as if she knew that. "Fighting me at this point would be foolish. If you do manage to defeat me, there would be no escape from this place. For any of you. My dear brother will make sure of that."

I gasped in surprise. Her brother? The hunter was her brother? But how? He was a man and he must have been born from a witch and… how did he get into the Order then? The questions swirled in my head, making me dizzy, and by the time I got a hold of myself, Mariam was pulling a chair from the table on the other side of the small room.

Apart from my bed and the furniture she was sitting on, there was nothing inside the room. No windows, no decorations, no doors except for the one she had come from. A cell, if cleaner and more comfortable than most cells I'd seen.

"Why am I here?" I asked in a hoarse voice. Seeing how she carried herself with an air of superiority, I decided to play the dumb, confused idiot who could easily be manipulated. Regina had liked that part of me and grew lax with her commands and punishments when I played it well. Maybe she'd slip. Maybe I could learn something new and use it against her.

"Oh, I think we both know why you're here," Mariam chuckled, motioning with her hands. I yelped as something got a hold of me, pulling me up, but before I had the chance to fight, Mariam's magic deposited me on the edge of the bed and withdrew. I stared at her in shock, but she just shrugged a shoulder. "I don't like the sight of you kneeling. There will be none of that from now on. "

I said nothing as I stared at the young face of the witch I had thought was nothing but an annoyingly lively brat from another Coven. Oh, how I wish I had been right about that. I would have suffered through her smiles and jokes and joviality for eternity instead of… whatever she's planning now.

I was just about to ask another apparently stupid question, but the sharp glint in her eyes stopped me. No pretending then.

"Why me?" I asked the question that had been bothering me for weeks instead. "Of all the people on the planet, of all the potential Castle descendants, why me? Why not Regina? What's so special about me?"

She bit her lip, seemingly thinking it over, before she shrugged.

"Nothing, really." That answer wasn't at all what I expected, so I just gawked at her. Mariam rolled her eyes. "You're average at most things, although you do have a high affinity for magic, which is good. My only request was that the next vessel be young. I prefer them young, they last longer this way. That's why I had no use for Regina." Mariam grimaced in what seemed to be disgust. "Not to mention, she was rather useful alive."

It was getting harder and harder to breathe. My life was ruined because of… convenience? Not some special quality I had that required it to be me? Just because I was… young? I… I…

I closed my eyes, trying to reel in the chaos in my mind. It didn't matter, none of this mattered. All that mattered was figuring a way out, finding a weakness I could exploit.

"What are you?" I found myself asking as I looked at her again. "Mathias called you an abomination, but I don't get it. A witch should not be able to move her soul between bodies. Especially not multiple times. It's not natural. It's not possible!" The smile on Mariam's face was downright wicked, chilling me to the bone. "Are you… a demon?"

She burst out laughing, her hand slapping the surface of the table. When her chuckles finally died down, I was sure she was insane. That thought scared me even more.

"Demon? No, no," she said so quietly, like she was talking to herself. "But I suppose I can see why you'd think that. Switching vessels is what they do." She leaned her chin on her hand, studying me with a strange grin. "Do you really want to know?" I swallowed the lump in my throat, wondering if there was a right answer to that question. Of course, I wanted to know! Not knowing was always the worst. But if she was so willing to tell me, then that meant she didn't think I could escape.

I nodded. Mariam took a deep breath and pushed herself up. At first, I thought she'd approach me, but she just started pacing through the empty space between the bed and the table, her hands clasped behind her back. The idea of attacking her crossed my mind, but I could feel her magic at the tip of her fingertips, and sense her tension as if she already expected that. I shouldn't act rashly before I knew what else she had up her sleeve.

"I used to be a witch once, just like you. But then my best friend betrayed me in the most wicked of ways." She let out a deep sigh, but it felt fake, rehearsed, like she had told that story many, many times. "She even hunted me and wanted to kill me. But I was smarter, much smarter than her, and while I had never been powerful, I was gifted in a way very few were." She stopped, looking at me as if waiting for sympathy, but when I offered none, she moved on. "Funny thing, demons. We were all taught they're dangerous and wicked and they never make a deal that doesn't benefit them, but that's not true. Demons are pretty useful."

Something tingled my memory. Was she talking about the Ancient one? Or was she talking about herself? I couldn't make sense of what she was saying, and it was unnerving me.

"Celeste is not the only witch who has made a deal with a demon, you know. She just got lucky to get the best deal without even realizing it. But I got what I wanted."

My lips parted in shock, and I asked without thinking. "What did you get?"

"The most powerful thing in the world, of course." She shrugged. "Knowledge."

I gritted my teeth while the silence dragged on. She looked like she wanted me to keep asking questions, like she wanted me to be in awe of her tale, of her answers.

"What… knowledge?" I forced out.

"Oh, come on, Samara, you can do better than that!" she clicked her tongue and when I said nothing, she rolled her eyes and continued, anyway. "The knowledge of how to switch vessels, among other things. There is no other creature that can do that aside from demons. And now me, of course."

I gaped. I couldn't help but gape. "Demons are dead and their souls are twisted. How can you do what they do?"

Mariam's smile was all condescension. "You have to give to get, child."

Before I could say anything more, a knock sounded at the door.

"Just a minute," she called back, turning to me with a sigh. "It seems we are running out of time, so let me get the rest of it out. I usually have longer to prepare my vessels, but you'll get the quick version." I was still staring in bewilderment when she continued. "I escaped death by transferring my soul to my newborn daughter. Then she—well, me—had a child, and I did it again. And again. I tried with other people too, but the transfer never really worked well, especially if they weren't witches. So I stuck to my bloodline."

She turned on her heel, facing me fully.

"For centuries, I perfected the method and studied the bonds between creatures, the one that allowed them almost… mind control over each other. Like the shifters with their mate bond that forced them to love one another, even if they hated each other before. Or the vampires who became all but obsessed with the object of their affection. Werewolves were easier to obtain for study, so the oath that now connects you to Mathias is based on theirs, but with a few… modifications, of course."

"Those werewolves that disappeared… it was you!" I gasped, jumping to my feet. My knees wobbled, but I managed to stay up. "But it was the hunters who took them!"

"I have a mutual understanding with my… friends at the Order." She shrugged. "Now that's out of the way, let's go. We need to complete the ritual." Mariam strode toward the door, but when I didn't follow, she stopped and slowly spun on her heel. "Don't make me force you, Samara. This would all be easier for everyone if you cooperate."

A laughter bubbled in my chest, spilling out before I could stop it. "Like hell I am! Why would I make it easier for you to steal my body and my life? If you think I'll go down without a fight…" I raised my hand in support of my threat, a ball of fire forming over my trembling fingers. Fire wasn't my strongest element, but the walls of this place seemed to be made of solid stone, so I had no access to earth.

Mariam gave me a look full of pity, then lifted her own hand. To my surprise, she didn't attack or conjure a ward. She snapped her fingers, and the door opened with a screech.

"Bring them in," she said without even turning. In reply to her order, a tall, broad-shouldered man entered the room, his stark blue eyes catching mine before he pushed two more people in. My breath caught in my throat as Lily stumbled while trying to keep Alice upright. The shifter's eyes were sunken, skin sweaty and pale. Judging from the blood seeping between her fingers, she didn't get the same careful treatment I did. Mariam cleared her throat. "You were saying?"

She stepped aside, letting me have a full view of the two women. Lily was in one piece, the only injury I could see was the shallow graze on her neck where the hunter had cut her. Her face was dirty, with tear stains marking a way down her cheeks. When she met my gaze, her lip quivered.

"Kneel," Mariam ordered, her voice growing harsh and demanding. Alice dropped almost immediately, whimpering in pain as she placed her hands on the ground and lowered her head. Both Lily and I stared at her in shock. I had never seen werewolves kneel so eagerly, especially before their enemies. Even Lily struggled when the hunter grabbed her shoulder and shoved her down.

I looked at Mariam, ready to shout at her to let them go, when a faint light over her chest caught my attention. She wasn't using her magic, not directly at least, but the medallion falling heavily between her collarbones was definitely magical. And it was doing something to them.

"Stop!" I snarled, and she looked back at me. "Don't hurt them."

"That's entirely up to you, dear," Mariam chuckled, adjusting her glasses. "Do as you're told, and they'll live. Refuse and…" She glanced back at the two women, or rather, at the man beside them. Casually, he drew out a jagged blade from its sheath, holding it loosely by his side.

I licked my lips, my mouth turning so dry, it was like I had poured ash down my throat. My head was spinning from trying to figure out what to do, but it felt like my thoughts only bounced off of each other, making no coherent connection.

There was no way out. None that would allow us all to leave alive, at least.

"Let them go," I whispered, looking away from my sister's wide, teary eyes. "I'll do it if you let them go."

"Violet, no! You can't do what—" The hunter's hand slid over her mouth, muffling the rest of the words. His knife pressed against Lily's throat and she sucked in a sharp breath, inching away from the blade.

I glared at Mariam.

"If either of them gets any more hurt, I'm done. I'd rather die and let Mathias free than agree to this ritual. And you need me to agree, don't you?" I smiled even though I felt like crying. "Otherwise, you wouldn't be asking. You wouldn't be playing this whole charade. "

Mariam made a show of thinking it over, her eyes darting between me and my sister. In the end, she strode to Lily's side, catching the hunter's hand and gently pushing the blade away. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Very well," she said with a note of satisfaction, and I realized she was expecting this from the start. "Your life for theirs. Sounds reasonable to me." She stepped back, nodding toward the door. "Take them outside and let them go."

The hunter grabbed both women under the armpits and pulled them to their feet.

"I don't trust you. I want to see them go with my own eyes." I demanded.

Mariam sighed, looking at her watch.

"Fine, we have a few minutes," she said like she couldn't care less. Raising her hand, she offered it to me. "You won't mind, will you? I can't have you translocating recklessly without a tether. I destroyed the one you had at your Coven, by the way. You wouldn't be needing that."

I swallowed the scream lodged in my throat, taking her hand. A shudder shook my body as she intertwined her fingers with mine, tugging me after the hunter and the two women. We walked in silence through a dimly lit corridor, its walls bare and devoid of any unique features that could tell me where we were. When the faint light of the waning sun peeked through one of the windows, Mariam squeezed my hand and leaned closer.

"Try to contact Mathias and I will take your sister and wear her body until she falls apart. The oath is not perfect, and it takes a toll on the wearer. And with her being human, she'd be a shell in months. Then," she paused, waiting until I looked at her before she continued, "I'll come for you again and it will be your sister's face you look at when you surrender yourself. Understood?"

"Understood," I whispered, watching the hunter open the front door. Neither Lily nor Alice was bound, but he stood beside them like it didn't even cross his mind that they could relieve him of one of the many weapons strapped to his body. I supposed they couldn't. Lily was too slow and Alice was… too hurt.

"Go," Mariam said to them and they both turned to stare at me with questions in their eyes. Lily was still supporting Alice's weight, but I could see it in the shifter's eyes that she'd run and fight until her dying breath to protect my sister. And I was counting on that .

"Can I at least say goodbye?" I asked, my voice breaking at the end. Mariam rolled her eyes, but nodded, watching me like a hawk as I approached them. Lily shook her head, looking ready to cry again, so I forced myself to smile. "Shh, it's okay. I'll be fine." The lie rolled off my tongue easily as I wrapped my arms around both, squeezing them close. Lily let out a quiet sob, and I used the chance to speak, lowering my voice. "When you are outside, run with everything you've got. I don't trust that she'd let you go. But you must escape. Promise me."

I wasn't sure Lily heard any of that, but I knew Alice did because I could feel her nod against my shoulder.

"This can't be happening," Lily whimpered when I tried to pull back. Her arm tightened around me. "We just found you! We can't lose you again! We can't—"

"Lily," I interrupted, breaking her hold on my neck. "It will be fine, I promise. Now go. Please."

She shook her head, but Alice tugged her toward the door, her eyes darting to the hunter. If he heard my words, he said nothing. They stepped through the threshold, and I half expected something to change, something to happen, but the world remained the same. Alice's hold on my sister's waist tightened when she dug her heels in until the shifter whispered something in her ear. Lily's shoulders slumped, and she threw me a parting look before the two finally turned their backs on us and ran down the slope the house was on, disappearing among the evergreen trees below.

When the hunter closed the door with a reverberating click, I flinched. He sheathed his blade, then strode past, disappearing into another room further down the corridor. Mariam waited with her arms crossed, impatience making her features sharper. She nodded in the direction he had gone and I forced myself to follow.

I paused at the threshold, sending a wistful look toward the front door.

"Samara," Mariam said impatiently, and I took a deep breath, following her into what seemed to be a dining room. The table and chairs were pushed to the walls, freeing most of the space in the center, and that's where she and the hunter waited for me. She pointed at the spot in front of her and I took it begrudgingly, eyes locked on the man who had unsheathed his weapon once again.

"What… what do I have to do?" I asked as he moved behind Mariam, catching her hair and pinning it on the back of her head with a clip. When her neck was exposed, he pressed the edge of his blade to it, dragging it across the skin until the air was heavy with the scent of blood. Mariam didn't even wince .

"You hold my hand and you don't resist," she said like it was the easiest thing in the world, relinquishing my body, my mind, and most importantly, the last thing that stood between her and a very powerful male witch.

‘Fuck, I should have just ordered him to kill himself,' I thought while I watched the hunter wipe his blade on his pants and move my way. I should have done that from the start, but I… couldn't. As much as I didn't want to admit it, part of me cared about Mathias. He was a monster, a very dangerous one for sure, but to me, he had been the closest thing to a friend for years. He was the only one who showed me kindness, even if it came with strings attached, and the only one who saw me as more than… a vessel.

No. Even if I could talk to him right now, even if I could order him, I wasn't sure if I could make him do it. I just didn't have it in me, just like he had said.

I felt the hunter's fingers brush my nape, then the blade sang as it moved through the air. Something tickled my skin, and I looked back to see my hair falling to the floor, the familiar heaviness gone. My neck felt cold and exposed and when I reached for the once-long locks, I realized he had cut them just above my shoulders.

"I think you were overdue for a makeover," Mariam chuckled, and I let my hand fall by my side. It didn't matter if I had any hair at all since I'd be dead in a few minutes.

"I have one more question," I said, and she raised an eyebrow.

"Just one? That's surprising," she scoffed but gave me a sign to keep going.

"Why do all of this? The vessels, the oath, and me… what's your end goal?" I asked, holding my breath as I waited for her answer. The tip of a blade pressed against my neck, cutting the skin while the hunter started carving something. I hissed in pain, but his grip on my shoulder held me in place.

When he was done, he stepped back, drawing all the way to the wall.

Mariam moved closer, extending a hand for me to take. I didn't move.

"My goal, Samara, has been the same from the day I died," she said in an exasperated voice. "To become so strong that every creature in the world would know and revere me. To have the power to make the rules, control my fate, and never be put second to anyone. And last, but not least, to end Celeste's cycle and bury her so deep, nobody would ever find her or remember she existed. This time, for good."

Mariam stomped forward, grabbing my fingers and squeezing them tightly as we stared at each other .

"Why do you hate her so much?" I shook my head. "She probably doesn't even know you well."

"Oh, she does," Mariam cackled, her magic engulfing her in a soft glow that only seemed to grow brighter. "She just doesn't remember me yet."

I opened my mouth to speak, but a sharp pain pierced my head, and I gasped instead. Mariam had started chanting something I couldn't catch, the words flowing seamlessly like she knew them by heart. The light intensified and when I tried to move, my body refused to obey. Legs glued to the floor and heart hammering in my chest, all I could do was stare at her while her magic wrapped around us both, sinking painfully into my flesh and rooting itself there.

I screamed, I think, and maybe I fell, although I felt no more pain, no more… anything. Still, when the darkness dispersed, and the room swam in foggy slices, I could tell I was sitting on the floor. Mariam's body was sprawled across from me, arms and legs stretched and unmoving.

I gasped, but no sound came out of my mouth. I tried to get up, to check on her and make sure she was dead, hoping that the spell backfired and she hexed herself, but again, my body disobeyed me. In fact, nothing I tried worked.

Finally, the room stopped spinning, and the hunter appeared before me, reaching out to grab me. I recoiled, or tried to, but instead of moving away, I caught his hands and allowed him to pull me up.

"I'm fine," I heard myself say, but I was absolutely sure I didn't say that. Because I was anything but fine. This was… "It worked."

Horror overtook everything I was, understanding flooding in. It worked. It worked. That's why I couldn't make my body do anything. It wasn't my body! But how was I still here? Why was I still here?

‘You'll be gone soon enough,' another voice spoke in my mind, old and so full of wickedness, I shuddered. ‘Now you will be quiet or I will shove you into this body's worst memories and leave you there.'

I gulped at the threat, knowing without a doubt that it wasn't a bluff. So when something crashed into me, dragging me deeper and deeper down, I didn't resist. Darkness crept up from everywhere, coiling around me like a snake, and the last thing I heard before it pulled me even further were Mariam's words spoken through my own treacherous lips .

"I've waited so long for this day. There is no need to rush. Once I get adjusted to this new body, then… then we'll summon Mathias. It's almost time."