by K. C. RILEY
“Agreed.”
“So?” Josie asked still fanning the smoke alarm. “What did you see?”
Ezra’s words rang loud and clear through my ears. Your only path is death.
“I don’t remember a thing.”
Neither of them was buying the lie. I could see it on their face. But I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to talk about it because Ezra was right.
I was the end of…everything.
14
I know Cassie had said not to, but I had been haunted all night by dreams of ending the world, killing Gadreel and Adam, Jake and Kai, and being Lilith, a succubus. I reached for the Fallen venom and placed one drop under my tongue. Just one.
The venom flowing through my blood warmed body, awakening each limb with a slight buzz. The guilt and visions quickly subsided, and were instead replaced with something more grounded. It was like the venom had pulled me out of the nightmare of the Blood Book long enough to look at things from a more objective perspective.
I got out of my bed, opened my desk drawer, and pulled out the note Mom had left in the car before she died.
Liz, I’m sorry...
Shadowick, VA.
13TH HR, 483, The Destroyer.
I thought the Destroyer was Aunt Norah. And why not? It was she who had destroyed my family, my mother, the village, and my little brother. And she who had almost killed my friends. She was a walking time-bomb-ticking nightmare. But, I was wrong. Mom’s note wasn’t about Norah. It was about me. I was the Destroyer.
I dropped back down on the bed with the note in my hand as the sunlight warmed against my back.
The combination of taking more venom than I should have and entering the Blood Book the previous night, caused the book to go berserk. Its madness had taken me either to the very beginning or the very end of it all. And that was the problem. I couldn’t tell if Jake and Kai at my side was the past or the future. Or both. Was it a vision, or was it real? The one thing I was sure of was that the poison in the apple infected everything. It had turned Eve into something that she wasn’t. Lilith.
Lifetime after lifetime, Jake had only been trying to save me from myself. I recalled him using the sigils that were marked on his skin to bind me. It wasn’t mom or Ezra that had bound my power. It was Jake. And the Codex Rose wasn’t a book. Not, exactly. The Codex Rose was also Jake.
The venom was deep at work, helping me to see and flip the missing pieces until they fell into place. Well, sort of.
Taking one too many drops of the venom may have ended in destroying the Blood Book. But if I hadn’t overdosed, I may have never found out that it was Jake that spelled me.
I paced back and forth across the room examining every past life the book had taken me through. It was still hard to explain how any of it was possible. Each life had been the same, Jake binding me with a spell to keep Lilith locked in my mind. But Lilith locked in my head was the problem. Then again, so was releasing her.
I jumped back to the sigils on Jakes skin.
According to Sister Clara, the Codex Rose wasn’t supposed to bind me. It was supposed to set me free. She had also said that Eve wasn’t the end of everything, but the beginning.
There had to be another way of destroying Lilith without being spelled and destroying myself.
Ugh. The beginning, the end. Spelled, un-spelled. It was all confusing. Even with Fallen venom.
I glanced at the clock.
There was still some time before I needed to show up for work at Vye’s.
I said the magic words and the door in my room to Alexandria opened. I crept down the brisk stone chamber, still in my PJs.
The hall with the fresco was empty. Sister Clara said that the images of creation and the garden held secrets. That they could tell me more. But there were no secrets that stood out. The elements of the story were the same. Gadreel had been tricked by the Elohim. He served Eve a poisoned apple and that was the start of The Fall.
I was about to leave when someone screamed in agony.
Haunting shrills echoed through the dark lit halls as I traced them to the empty lab. There was a light that came from a cracked door. I stepped closer to it. The screaming had stopped and was replaced by people talking.
“I am sorry, I wish there was more we could do, but...” It was Sister Clara.
There was sniffling. Someone was crying. I pushed open the door to a room that looked like an infirmary. Everything was white, the hospital beds, the linens, and even the curtains that separated them.
The putrid air took my breath away, a mixture of sadness and death that riddled through the sterile room.
I slowly crept toward Sister Clara, Boyd, Alexei, Sister Maria, and Josie. Madame Blavatski was also there with her cane firm in hand. They were all hovered around a bed. The only one missing was Cassie.
Sister Clara stared up at me as if she was about to ask me to leave. However, she paused and instead nodded for me to come closer. Sister Maria adjusted an IV bag on its metal hook. The drip ran down from the bag and disappeared into the crowd that surrounded the bed.
Josie was crying and I was almost knocked out by her grief. Boyd and Alexei opened the circle to let me in. My heart thumped in my ears as I took another step.
The weary look on everyone’s face finally made sense.
Mason, if it was still him, laid in the bed, his bare body a lump of twisted pink flesh and black tumors caught between something human and animal. His hands and feet were drastically elongated, his fingers locked and curled like petrified wood. The raw flesh at his mouth had been eaten away to reveal a set of wolf teeth that had been trying to protrude out.
At his back were branches of black veins that ran across his body. They all seemed to be pooling from one spot, the place where he had been scratched by the Black Mist that night at Shadowick Lake.
Mason moaned.
“He’s stuck in transformation.” Josie could barely talk. “He won’t survive much longer like this.”
“What about magic? A spell? Anything?”
Sister Clara and Sister Maria both shook their heads. “We tried. Nothing has worked.”
“But I think I know the problem. Mason was scratched by the Black Mist the night Zander kidnapped me.”
“Even if that’s true, he’s too far gone. There’s nothing else we can do. I’m sorry, Miss Maverick,” Sister Clara said. “The rest is up to Mason.”
That was bullshit.
“It’s best if you leave now,” she continued.
“But—”
“Please,” she said.
I placed my hand on Josie’s shoulder. I didn’t want to leave but I also didn’t want to make things worse. More importantly, where the hell was Cassie?
The first text that came through was from Aunt Vye. She was running late and wanted to make sure I would still be able to cover the morning shift. I really didn’t want to. Not after seeing Mason. My car was also still in the shop. But, I told her I would be there. I’d have to either get Cassie to take me or call for a driver.
The next text came in from Kai wondering how I was doing after my night with Ezra. He also said he had spoken with the mechanic and my car wouldn’t be ready for a week. Something about a missing part that had to be ordered. And crap. What was I going to do without a car for a week?
His next text was an offer to pick me up for work.
The images of Kai from The Blood Book flashed before my eyes. It was clear. I needed to stay as far away from him as possible. For his own safety. I texted him back letting him know I already had a ride with Cassie, even though she didn’t know it yet.
Are you okay? Kai texted.
I hated to do it. But I had to.
I’m sorry, but we can’t be friends. It’s not you. It’s me.
Lame. I know. Not to mention cliché.
Kai didn’t reply. Nothing, which made me feel even worse.
I was almost ready to leave when two envelopes slid under the door. The Society. The morning just kept
getting better.
I opened the first, an invitation to something called a Black Ball that was happening this afternoon. All students were to meet at Mrs. Ellington’s for hair, makeup, and wardrobe no later than 3 p.m. One, who the hell sends an invitation to a Ball with only seven to eight hours to spare? The Society and Mrs. Ellington, that’s who. And two, how could they throw a Ball when one of their students was lying in a bed dying? I sighed at what I had gotten myself into with The Society. However, there was no other way. Not if I needed their help to flip the binding spell and get Jake back.
I would just have to tell Aunt Vye I would have to leave work early. Maybe Darlene could fill part of my shift.
The letter poofed from my hands into fiery flames of light. I then opened the other. A small gift box fell to the floor. And how could a small box fit inside of a flat envelope? Magic.
I opened the box to reveal a set of gold car keys and a note inside.
The keys to your new car. Be responsible. Drive safe. – The Society of Souls
If anything, I wanted my old car, Mom’s car, not a new one. I grabbed the keys from the box and went to knock on Cassie’s door. Maybe she was asleep. It was still early. I knocked again.
Cassie finally answered the door. “Hey.” She looked exhausted, like she had been up all night.
Her room was a chaotic mess of opened books, small bowls of herbs, crystals, and burnt melted candles everywhere. The unopened invitation from The Society was sitting on her desk next to a small tube of red liquid that looked like blood. Cassie wasted no time plopping back into the sea of books and loose papers scattered on her bed. She was looking for something. A spell, I suspected.
“Mason?” I asked.
“I tried to help him, but the spell backfired. It was supposed to make him transform. But something went wrong. He’s dying, Liz. And it’s my fault.” Cassie was just as close to a nervous breakdown as I was.
“I don’t think that’s true. If anything, it’s my fault.” I explained my theory about the Black Mist. How the wolf venom was collecting and branching from the spot where Mason had been scratched. “I explained it to Sister Clara and Sister Maria, but they said it was still too late, that there was nothing more they could do.”
“Like hell,” Cassie said. “I can save him. I know I can. But the books and spells I have, the magic isn’t strong enough.”
“What if I could get you some that were?”
“What do you mean?”
I grabbed The Society’s letter from the desk. “Open it.”
Cassie sighed. “What’s the point?”
“Just open it,” I said, again.
Reluctant, she did. As soon as she finished reading it she threw it in the air as it burst into flames and vanished. “How can they throw a Ball when one of us is dying? There’s no way I’m going. Mason, Josie, they need me.”
“You don’t understand. You have to. Remember the spell books I told you about in Mrs. Ellington’s cellar, the ones she used to free Norah’s spirit, and maybe her dead husband?”
Cassie’s eye’s widened.
“What if there’s something in those books that can help save Mason? Besides, I was going to grab them anyway. I know who spelled me.” At least, I hoped.
“Who?”
“Jake. And don’t ask, it’s a very long story. Trust me. The point is, if you can keep Mrs. Ellington busy—”
“You can go and get them. This changes everything. There’s still time to save Mason.”
“And there might be something in there to save Jake, too.”
“Yeah. About that. I tried looking for a location spell in the books I have, but nothing.”
“All the more reason.”
Cassie paused. “Okay, I’m in.” Cassie wrote something down on a piece of paper she ripped from her notebook. “Meet us here when you’ve got the books in hand. It’s a place where the spiritual veil for tapping into magic is thin. If there’s something in those books that can save him, we’ll need all the help we can get. I’ll let Josie, Boyd, and Alexei know. It’s up to us. The Society has already given up on him.”
“Got it.”
Cassie then stared at the gold keys in my hand. “I see it's official. Your car.”
“Uhhh...yeah. I guess? That’s actually what I meant to ask you about.”
“What’s there to ask? It’s yours. Welcome to The Society.” Cassie’s voice soured with a touch of bitterness.
“Right. I better get going. I’ll see you at three?”
Cassie nodded.
I was about to leave when she called out. “Hey. Wait.”
Cassie scooted out of the bed and went over to her desk. She hesitated before pulling out a vial of blue liquid from her drawer. She handed me a folded piece of paper with it. “I hadn’t forgotten. Now that you know who spelled you, maybe this will help break it. Then again, after what happened with Mason. Maybe you shouldn’t take it at all.”
“Thanks,” I said, crossing my fingers. Every part of me knew it was Jake. Now it was just a matter of trusting myself. I unfolded the paper and was about to cast the spell. “Just one question. Sister Maria said it was imperative that I absolutely know who spelled me. What if I cast the spell and I’m wrong?”
“Honestly? I don’t know. Which is why you need to be sure you want to go through with this. You don’t have to take it.”
I swallowed hard. It was Jake. I was sure of it.
My mind swooped back to the Blood Book, every life time of struggle with Lilith being bound within my head only to take my own life in misery and madness. Yes, Jake loved me. But what if he was wrong? Besides, Jake was still in trouble and no one was doing a damn thing about it. I was tired of feeling weak, helpless, and useless.
I was more than my shadow. And I was more than all the visions and prophecies of destruction and the end of the world.
I had to believe that Ezra was wrong about me. Otherwise, what was the point of getting up in the morning? Let alone living? My path wasn’t just death and darkness. My path was magic. I knew it the moment I had touched The Book of the Unnamed. And where there was magic, there had to be a way.
The night Cassie pulled the card of The Empress, she said I would have to make a choice. Light or Dark.
This decision had become about more than just saving Jake. It was also about saving myself.
“You said you thought that I was here to save magic, not destroy it. Do you still feel the same way?”
“Yeah. Of course, I do.”
“Then let’s do it,” I said, still nervous about the decision.
Cassie nodded and we chanted the words together. “Iter ah pator noche. Iter ah pator noche. Iter ah pator noche.”
I uncapped the vial and swallowed the liquid. The taste was like grass mixed with peppermint. I had no idea what to expect. There were no signs of magic in the air. No levitating bodies. No whirlwinds, earthquakes, or anything of the sort. Just quiet.
“It may take a couple of hours to work. Text me if you feel weird or if anything goes wrong.”
“Hopefully, it won’t. And I will. But, one more thing,” I said. “It’s about your aunt.”
I told Cassie about the monkey’s paw and what happened with Ezra at the lake. How her aunt followed me and Kai.
“I’ll take care of my aunt. You, just get the books.”
“And what about Mrs. Ellington?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep her busy while you do.”
15
Another text came through. This time it was my bank confirming a direct deposit of $2,000 to my checking account. The Society. It was all coming to fruition. The car, and now the allowance, which was more money than I had ever seen in my life.
I would have said that getting an allowance from the Society was like warm fuzzies in my stomach, but it wasn’t. Instead, it was more of a squirming sensation. No one gives you anything for free, Mom always said. Not without wanting something in return. So, what did the Society want in return?<
br />
It was weird stepping into the parking lot and not seeing Lucy’s dull blue luster against all of the newer more expensive cars the kids at All Saint’s used as play toys. Then again, was I now one of them?
I clicked the button at the key chain and followed the beep to a brand new sky blue sporty-looking Range Rover. Was it cute? I would be lying if I said no. But was it Lucy? Not by a long shot.
With another click of the button, I opened the car and hopped into the seat completely overwhelmed by all of the new nobs, controls, and dashboards. I wanted to go to work, not Mars. There was a card on the adjacent seat along with all the title paperwork and insurance. Insurance.
A seventeen-year-old with a Range Rover. That must have cost a kidney. Regardless, it was all legit. The car was mine, and yet all I could think about was finally having enough money to get Lucy fixed. Well, that and thinking about Mason. And Jake. And Kai. And me being the Destroyer of everything.
There was one more thing I needed to do before pulling off. I looked up the book value on the car and almost fainted. The Society was insane. They would have to have been. Who gives a seventeen-year-old a $90,000 car?
Terror struck through me as I thought of denting it, scratching it. Hell. Driving it. It wasn’t a car. It was a house.
I tried starting it and the alarm went off. No. No. No. Everything was ass-backward.
“Way to go, Maverick,” a student yelled.
“Yeah. It’s about time you got rid of that heap of junk you called a car,” another passing student said.
What did they know? And they were only making it worse. Beet red, I tried to ignore them as I fumbled with the ignition and the controls.
With the car in reverse, I tried to back out. My foot barely touched the gas when the Range Rover skirted, and I slammed on the breaks. Jesus. It was going to be a long day.
Thirty minutes later, because that’s how slow I was driving, I parked a good two blocks away from Vye’s. Better that than explaining how I could afford a new SUV on part-time tips.
