5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Samara

T he world was melting. The heat was unbearable, yet… there was this cold feeling swirling in my mind, like an ice cube surrounded by fire. I clung to the coolness, trying to protect it from the long, blazing tongues with everything I had, but it grew smaller and smaller, leaving me alone to burn.

Just as the heat got so insufferable that I couldn't breathe, an icy wind washed through the field, freezing the entire plane and leaving me alone and confused right in the middle of it. I turned around, searching for the source, yet I saw nothing but twisted, frozen figures in bright red and orange. Curiosity got the better of me, and I reached for the closest one, eager to find out if it was indeed ice or fire, but before my finger touched its strange surface, my body was yanked back.

I landed heavily, rolling to my side as something crawled out of my throat. I opened my mouth on instinct, my eyes following suit, and the strange place with the icy fire disappeared in favor of a wooden floor inside a dark room.

My throat burned as I puked and puked until there was nothing left inside. When my vision finally came into focus, I stared at the rusty bucket placed by the bed, the stinky, murky liquid slowly settling down once I stopped adding to it. With a pained grunt, I rolled onto my back and looked around.

Thud… Thud… Thud …

Everything was made of old, faded wood, with spiderwebs crawling around the roof beams, and despite the poor lighting, I could see a few rotten spots eating at the planks. My heart raced as I pushed myself to my elbows, trying to figure out where I was because my bedroom definitely didn't look like that.

How did I even get here? My head was still spinning so fast, it was hard to think clearly, but I could distantly remember a sense of danger and dire urgency. It made my skin crawl, but the more I tried to focus on remembering, the fuzzier my thoughts became.

Thud… Thud…

I spotted a door on the opposite side of the room, and two windows, both dark and half-covered with ragged red curtains. The hearth in front of the bed—the only source of light—was cracking merrily, like it wanted to lure me into its false sense of security.

"Fire," I whispered, my eyes going wide with panic as the realization hit. If there was fire, that means somebody started it, and considering I just woke up… I wasn't alone here. But who…?

Thud… Thud… Thud…

That infuriating sound seemed to be coming from the window. I reached for my magic on instinct, sighing in relief when I felt its familiar embrace. I let it search for any danger nearby, but to my surprise, it whispered of none.

Thud…

Gritting my teeth, I slid off the bed, clinging to the wooden poster. Once sensation returned to my feet, I made my way to the window. A pitcher of water caught my attention on the way, and I veered from my destination to gulp down a cup because my mouth was burning even harder than the fire that was throwing dancing shadows across the wall. The thought that the water might be poisoned or spiked with something crossed my mind while I was halfway through it, but I was too thirsty to stop. Whoever brought me here must have wanted to keep me alive, so the chances were…

I choked when the memories rushed in. The attack on Regina's house, the battle, and my attempt to sneak up on her and kill her… then darkness.

The glass slipped from my hand, falling heavily on the floor and shattering to pieces .

What happened after? The last thing I remembered was Regina's power coursing through me and bringing me a level of pain none of her punishment had reached before. I had thought I was dying for sure, that she'd finally finish me off, but then… Wait, there was that werewolf… did he kill her? Did she kill him? Where was Mathias?

Thud… Thud…. Thud…

I tiptoed away from the wet stain on the floor and frantically turned to the window. Pushing the faded curtains aside, I peeked into the darkness, my grip on my magic tightening. The moon was almost full, its generous glow illuminating the thick forest surrounding me from all sides.

I was most definitely not in the city anymore, and judging by the lack of artificial light or loud noises, I was nowhere near it, either. But how did I end up here? And what the fuck was making that annoying noise?

Just as the question popped into my head, a movement caught my attention. What I thought was one of the smaller trees moved, taking the form of a man—a shirtless man—swinging a giant ax. He was rather lean, which made the strength with which he drove that ax into the wood even more staggering. At the same time, he looked completely at ease with the motion, like he had done it a thousand times before.

The moonlight slid over his pitch-black hair, glistening on the sweat that coated his back and shoulders, and I realized with a shock that I was looking at Mathias. I was so stunned that I didn't even flinch when his head abruptly turned my way and his eyes locked with mine. We stared at each other for one long moment before he turned away, raising the ax again. The log snapped in two under his strike, and he finally dropped his tool, crouching to gather the firewood.

I staggered back, the urge to flee overwhelming my curiosity, when I stepped on the glass and hissed as pain shot through my foot. Jumping on my good leg while trying to get the shard out, I shot the window another glance. I could no longer hear him outside, and that set me on edge almost as much as the burning questions that kept circling in my head.

Why had he brought me here? Why was I still alive? If Regina had survived, she would have summoned us back to her, but if she was dead… then I should be, too. She had given him an order not to harm us, but if she had died and the oath transferred to me… I never gave him any orders.

Fear squeezed my throat, but I forced myself to breathe through the panic. He could have killed me while I was unconscious and potentially freed himself. He didn't, which could only mean he wanted something from me. Maybe he needed me to release him because otherwise, the bond would pass to someone else—I wouldn't put it past Regina to have a backup plan for her backup plan. Whatever it was, I had to use it if I wanted to get out of here alive.

The door opened and Mathias stepped inside, heading toward the fireplace like he didn't even notice me standing in the middle of the room. Dropping the wood he was carrying on the floor, he crouched in front of the flames and fed them several logs, watching their glow creep higher and higher over the walls.

I just stared at him with impatience, wondering what the hell he was up to.

"Stop staring so much or I'll get the wrong idea." His unexpected words almost made me jump out of my skin, but the flippant tone was a welcome familiarity that grounded me, even in this bizarre situation. Mathias rose to his feet, finally giving me his full attention. His eyes lowered to my foot—the one that was now bleeding—and he frowned.

I flinched when he flicked his fingers—a gesture I had seen him using to kill birds when they chirped too loudly outside our windows—but I felt no pain in any part of my body. Instead, from the corner of my eye, I noticed the glass on the floor disappear and the blood vanished. When I looked back at him, he was standing by the table with the water, picking up a shirt from the back of one of the chairs and slipping it over his head.

He didn't say anything, didn't look at me or acknowledge this… situation, like this was a totally normal thing between us. I wanted to scream at him and demand answers, but the part of my brain that had kept me from his and Regina's ire kicked in, and I chose a safer question to start the conversation with.

"Why were you cutting wood like that?"

Mathias gave me a sidelong glance, the edges of his lips pulling up in a familiar smirk.

"Is that what you really want to know?" When I didn't reply, he sighed dramatically. "Cutting things calms me. I figured you'd wake in a better mood if surrounded by kindling rather than dead bodies." Turning around to face me, he crossed his arms and cocked an eyebrow. "Was I wrong? "

The image of him slicing people with that ax flashed before my eyes, and I shuddered. He inclined his head toward the fireplace where the flames were dancing merrily in their confines, and I realized he must have thought it was the cold that prompted that reaction. Not wanting to correct him, I drew closer to the hearth, keeping him within my sight.

"Is Regina…?"

"Dead?" he finished readily, the smile returning to his lips. "Quite so."

I swallowed the lump in my throat, waiting for the relief to come, but all I could feel was dread. "Did you…?"

"Kill her? Unfortunately not," he finished again, and before I could ask another question, he continued. "Yes, the bond transferred to you. Yes, you are alive because of me." His eyes bore into mine and he opened his arms, his smirk growing even more arrogant. "Yes, you're welcome to show me your gratitude in any way you see fit."

Too busy processing this bizarre situation, I didn't even acknowledge his quip, which seemed to sour his amusement. I opened my mouth several times, sifting through all the questions that were demanding to come out, but there was something unsettling in his perfectly relaxed posture and a taunting smile that was rubbing me the wrong way. That was the biggest problem with Mathias—apart from his violent tendencies—I could never tell what he was thinking.

"Why?" I finally asked, reaching for the comfort of my magic. With its calming presence around me, I searched for that bond until I found… something—a tangible thread that felt like a weak, unstable bridge between my mind and another place, shrouded in darkness and mist but oddly inviting.

"Why what? Why did I save you?" I nodded. "Why do you think I saved you, Samara?" I didn't answer, and he let out an exasperated sigh while he slumped into the chair behind him, draping an arm over the backrest. "I think you already know why."

I wanted to throw something at him. It was obvious he knew more about the bond and didn't want to tell me, but I wasn't going to fall for his obvious ploy. So I changed the subject.

"You promised me answers."

He rolled his eyes as the front legs of his chair clanked against the ground. I tried my best to not show my relief when he didn't get angry or try to smite me and as we watched each other from across the room, I felt my mind settle down. He had saved me and he wasn't attacking me, so for some reason, I was safe. For now. I just needed to gather more information about what was going on before deciding how to handle him.

"Well?" I cleared my throat, crossing my arms impatiently.

"Fine." He huffed a breath, waving his hand with a bored expression. "Ask your questions."

I opened my mouth, then closed it. There were so many things I wanted to know, but I had to be careful. I didn't want to talk about the bond or he might demand I free him, and I needed to find out if anyone was aware of our involvement in Regina's demise. If the witches knew, there would be no going back for me. They'd hunt me down and everyone I cared ab…

My family! They'd hunt them and use them against me. I wasn't sure how many people knew about them already, but…

"I thought you wanted answers," Mathias hemmed, a note of frustration making its way into his voice. I snapped out of my thoughts, veering toward the safest topic I could think of.

"Who is Mariam and what does she want with me?"

The smile froze on his lips for a second before he pushed himself up and neared the fire. I forced myself to stay still, watching him shove the logs with the fire hook while the embers rolled around. He looked so mesmerized by the sight that he didn't even blink as he spoke.

"Mariam is an abomination." His voice was quiet, bitter, and filled with something that almost felt like uneasiness. He shoved the fire one more time, then dropped the poker and turned to face me. "And yes, I see the irony of that coming from me, but while male witches are rare, we do not break the laws of nature." He grimaced. "She broke every single one of them. Even the Ancient one's existence is far less problematic than what Mariam is."

I gaped. An abomination? Breaking the laws of nature? Her existence was less problematic than that of the oldest witch in the world who couldn't even die permanently? That made no sense!

"I don't like riddles," I said through gritted teeth.

"I can do and see things you witches can't." Mathias shrugged, crossing his arms and leaning on the wall by the mantelpiece. "I can see energy differently, feel its flow, and use it in a way you could never fathom. I can make myself untraceable even as I stand before you…" In the blink of an eye, he was gone, his presence in the room vanishing. A second later, he reappeared beside the table again, sitting comfortably in his chair with his legs crossed at the ankle. "I can also see through all kinds of magic—witch, Fae, even pure demonic and angelic power." I opened my mouth to ask what he meant, but his look stopped me. "And I can recognize creatures, vessels, enchantments and… abominations."

He paused again, but this time I didn't bother interrupting.

"Mariam was once a witch like you," he said, leaning his chin on his hand. "In fact, you are so much alike, you share the same blood."

"What?" I gasped.

"Your mother was adopted, right?" he asked and barely waited for me to nod before continuing. "Somewhere in her bloodline, she must have had a Castle relative." My mouth turned dry. The Castles were an old bloodline, how would they let a child escape their grasp without following up on their descendants? Not every female manifested powers, but as long as they came from a magical bloodline, a powerful witch could still be born generations later. "You were lucky—or unlucky, rather, because your magic was why Regina snatched you away in the first place." His words pulled me back from my thoughts, and I frowned in confusion. What was he talking about? "You see, you were never attacked and saved by her. You were attacked by her. She wiped your memories and replaced them with lies."

My jaw dropped, and I just stared at him, unable to recall how my mouth worked. I barely had any recollection of that night, just fragments of destruction, screaming, and pain—my pain. I had assumed Regina lied about a lot of things, but that… I never thought she lied about saving me.

"...back to my story," Mathias went on and I tried my best to focus on him again. "She took you because you had magic and because of your blood. She made you her Second because you were the only one compatible with the role she had you play. You see, only someone from the Castle bloodline can form a bond with me."

"We are related too?" I whispered, my eyes growing wider.

"Shocking, isn't it?" he scoffed. "You, me, Regina, Mariam… all Castle descendants."

I ran a hand over my face, trying to wrap my mind around this. Why did Regina need someone else to inherit the bond, and how did Mariam fit into that ?

When I repeated those questions out loud, Mathias just clicked with his tongue like he was disappointed I hadn't figured it out already. I wracked my brain for the answer, going over everything he had said before, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't connect the dots.

"I don't fucking get it!" I shouted. "Tell me what Mariam wants with me!"

Mathias looked like he had no intention of replying, so I reached for that thread between us, tugging it gently. His body jerked in response and when he met my gaze, the nonchalance gave place to a warning.

"She wants your body," he spat, his eyes darkening with anger. "She wants to transfer her soul into your nice little shell and wear it until it falls apart." Horror gripped my throat, and I shook my head because that shouldn't be possible. The cruel smile on Mathias' face told me I was wrong. "She has done it many times before Mariam Castle. Regina didn't want to become a vessel, so she found a new one for Mariam. That was the terms of their agreement. You were never supposed to control me. She was."

My feet wobbled, and I leaned on the footboard of the bed.

"What do you think all that training was for? She was grooming your body to be strong enough to sustain her presence and the bond with me. You were saved to be sacrificed."

"No," I heard myself whisper, searching his eyes for any hint of a lie, or even mockery. I found only pity there. "This is insane!" When the weight of his words finally settled on my shoulders, I sat on the edge of the bed, afraid my legs would fail me.

I had lost everything that night—my family, my memory, my identity. The only thing I knew was that Regina had saved me and, in her way, she cared enough for me to make me her successor. But even that was a lie because she never saved me. She just delayed the date of my death for her own selfish purposes. And here I was now, carrying a burden I didn't deserve and facing a choice I didn't want to make. I wanted to cry and scream and break things, but I felt so weak, I wasn't sure if I could even stand.

Mathias moved, but I didn't raise my head until he was standing in front of me, his fingers brushing the side of my face. I scrambled backward on the bed, grappling for my magic, but he just let out an amused chuckle .

"So, now that you know," he said with the familiar cat smile that had made me bristle more times than I cared to count, "do the smart thing and release me from the bond. I'll even do you a small favor and take care of Mariam for you." He slid his knee onto the bed, drawing closer without breaking eye contact. I couldn't sense his magic, but I could feel something crawling over my body, tasting me, testing me, looking for its chance. Fighting his power with mine was pointless—I could never win. I only had one weapon now, and that was my words.

"I…" His hand covered my mouth before I could finish the sentence, and my eyes widened in surprise as he shifted his body closer. He was too close for comfort, and the way he studied my face made my insides twist uncomfortably.

"Before you say something dangerously stupid, let me paint you a picture," he said, leaning even closer. The light of the fire danced on the edge of his sharp cheekbones, making his features more sinister than ever. "You let me go tonight, and I will allow you to return to your family, reclaim your place among them, and enjoy your life for the first time since you can remember. It will be my gift for your… care." His fingers slid off my mouth, traveling to my cheek where they lingered. "Or… you say whatever you were planning to say and bind us both to a fate that can only end in death." His eyes lowered to my lips, and I realized I was licking them nervously. "Choose wisely."

This sounded so, so tempting. Returning to my family, living the life that was stolen from me, away from witch politics and body-stealing monsters. But…

"What… what are you going to do if I release you right now?" I asked with a shaky breath.

His smile made my heart skip a beat. "Don't ask questions you don't want to hear the answer to," he chuckled. "But you'll be fine. I give you my word. I won't touch you… unless you ask me to, of course. That could be fun."

I tried to shove him off me at the implication, but he stayed as immovable as a boulder. My magic exploded along with my panic and he lost his balance, falling sideways onto the bed. I expected him to get angry and retaliate, but he only chuckled with amusement.

"Fine, you can be on top," he smirked, raising his hand in surrender. I slid further away from him and he rolled his eyes.

"What will you do to the world?" I asked, even though I knew that hearing the answer to that question would make it even harder to make my decision .

"Oh, you know. It might get wrecked a bit, but I won't destroy it. I still need a planet to live on, so…" He shrugged like he hadn't just insinuated he was planning to devastate at least some of it. "Well? Let me hear it."

"No." I shook my head, staggering out of the bed and backing away from him. His smile withered, but aside from sitting up, he didn't follow.

The look in his eyes was enough to confirm I was doing the right thing, even if everything in me was begging me not to. Because, for all his faults, I did think he would keep his word—at least for a little while. But how could I face my family, knowing that my decision cost the lives of hundreds, possibly millions of people? How could I expect them to take me back and forgive everything I did, regardless if I had a choice or not, when this decision was all mine and I still chose to unleash a monster? Even Regina wouldn't have done that.

"I won't let you do that. I can't."

Mathias sighed.

"Samara, be reasonable. It's not like you care about other people."

"It's Violet!" I shouted, and he clenched his jaw. "I won't be responsible for unleashing a male witch on the world! That is a sin I won't take to my grave, even if my decision kills me!"

The air in the room felt as hot as fire, but I sucked in a deep breath, trying to prepare myself for what I had to do.

‘You can do this!' I gritted my teeth as I grabbed the thread connecting us. ‘You have to do this!'

"You will not kill or hurt anyone unless I order it or in self-defense," I said, keeping my voice steady as the connection between us snapped from the power of the command. The rune on his head started to glow, and the smell of his burning flesh almost made me gag. Pain flooded his eyes, and Mathias roared.

A panicked scream escaped my mouth when the sensations of agony, sorrow, and rage passed through the bond, making me double over. My feet buckled and as I fell heavily on my knees, the pain from scraping my knees against the wood barely registered. Shaking all over from the uncontrollable emotions we shared, I raised my head in search of Mathias.

I found him kneeling by the bed in a similar position, blood dripping from the runes on his forehead and neck while he crawled toward me. The moment I loosened my hold on his mind, relief cooled the fire under my skin and even Mathias let out a quiet sigh. Silence filled the room while we stared at each other, broken only by our ragged breaths and the crackling of the fire.

"You are… a fool," he whispered, his voice hoarse like he had been screaming for hours. "You could have had… everything you wanted. All you had to do was… let me go." He pushed himself up, trembling with effort. Once he stopped swaying on his feet, he squared his shoulders and looked down at where I was still kneeling. A tortured smile pulled on his bloodless lips as he touched the rune on his forehead, glancing at the blood and magic glistening on his skin. "Now you'll die…" He rubbed his finger over his mouth, the white of his teeth flashing when his tongue slipped out to lick the blood. "So I might as well kill everyone you love… so they can keep you company in Heaven."