Aurora’s Betrayal Page 7

  I stand and pace, annoyed that everything I’m doing is on the whim of some random women playing with me.

  “Do not be angry, Aurora. You still have your free will. You can choose to cut the threads to the prophecy and destroy the last hope for witches. It’s all on your shoulders. They just watch over it.”

  The use of my name with no endearments makes me take his words seriously. The anger drains from me, and I sit facing him again. “So, I could walk away?”

  The question’s bugged me since he told me what the gods want from me. I watch his eyes. They offer the truth.

  He doesn’t hide anything from me, and I love that. “Yes. But tell me this, απόγονος μου. Could you really walk away from them? That’s what it boils down to.”

  I look down in thought. Could I?

  They’re under my skin and something in me rebels at the idea. Everything I learned here I want to share with them. I want to go home and cuddle and watch movies. I want to sing duets with Ben and talk for hours with Jason. I want Alex to challenge me, and I want to see that soft smile Ezra offers me as we walk through the world together.

  No, I don’t think I could walk away from them. They’ve slowly wormed their way into my cold, protected heart with every look, touch, and smile. I don’t think I could ever get them out.

  I keep my thoughts to myself but ready myself. “Let’s go again.”

  Perses smiles and I move back into position.

  This time, I let my instincts guide me. I drop my shield and allow my magic to reach for him. His greets mine, curious but dormant for the moment. His steel wall appears in my mind’s eye, and instead of relying on brute strength, I place my hand on it and imagine it opening, allowing me to slip through.

  I stay there with my hand on it and wait.

  Slowly, it turns soft in my hand, then nothing. I’m through. Not wanting to look in his memories, I pull back to myself, and a huge, triumphant smile crosses my lips.

  Startled, Perses stares at me like he’s never seen me before.

  My smile slowly fades, and I stare back, now afraid. “What?”

  “In all my years, none have penetrated my barriers,” he admits.

  Confusion swirls in me. “But I thought you said I was practicing and that’s what you wanted me to do…”

  “Yes, απόγονος μου. I expected to have to let you in. Instead, you waltzed into my head with a smile.” His voice is careful, his face blank.

  Hesitant, I ask, “What does that mean?”

  “It means, Aurora, you are more than we could have ever expected.”

  I gulp at that.

  Later that evening, I stand at my spot in the mirror room.

  After our training, Perses departed without a word, leaving me more confused than ever. Today was full of ups and downs. I don’t even know where to start, so the mirror remains fogged.

  With a defeated sigh, I lean forward and gently place my hand on its slick surface.

  It clears around my hand, and I pull it back.

  Darius appears, smiling at someone I can’t see.

  I imagine it’s me. Lame, I know.

  Over the last couple nights, something in me shifted, and a soft spot appeared for the gentle man. It’s obvious why he fits in with the others so well and that he genuinely cares for them.

  I’ve learned a lot.

  He likes country music, although he’ll never admit it. He loves to read, he’s mischievous, he finds joy in life, and he cuts all the guys’ hair. I thought, watching the big man trimming their hair would make my heart explode. This giant delicately holding scissors and softly cutting their hair weakened my resolve to not force a bond.

  His voice could lull me to sleep, and I imagine him singing to me.

  Would he?

  As I fall asleep in that room, watching the man the gods deemed mine, my heart flutters in anticipation.

  Over the next week, I spend my days with Perses, testing my boundaries and pushing my power. I’m still hesitant, but I slowly start to accept both sides of me. When it feels so natural, it’s hard to fight it.

  I spend every night learning everything I can about Darius, and watching his and my mens’ happiness before he died.

  Slowly, I fall for them further. It feels like I’ve known them my whole life. I guess I’ve seen pretty much all of their lives.

  I smirk. I can’t wait to tease them about it. Just have to save a witch from Purgatory and bring him back from the dead first.

  Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

  20

  Aurora

  “You’re ready?” Confidence fills Perses’s loud voice.

  I’m glad one of us is. “I think maybe I should…”

  He places his hands on my shoulders and towers above me. “I wouldn’t send you there lightly, απόγονος μου. You’re ready.”

  I take a deep breath and smile at him.

  He grabs my arm, and we go for a walk in the gardens. It’s become somewhat of a ritual, and a little bit of me will miss this. Lost in my thoughts, I let my hands trail through the flowers as we stroll.

  We stop at the fountain and the irony isn’t lost on me. We came here on my first day and now on my last.

  “What will it be like?” I ask tensely.

  I’ve tried not to think about it, but now that it’s happening, the idea of Purgatory terrifies me.

  “Honestly, I don’t know.” Perses sits but I chose to stand, too wound up. “I’ve never been there. I’ve heard the stories. They say it’s different for everyone. It’s not one place.”

  “So, it’s like an individual thing?” I ask.

  He shrugs. “Maybe, but who really knows?”

  I laugh bitterly. “I figured a god would.”

  He smiles at me to masks a flash of hurt in his eyes. “I’m not all-seeing, Aurora. I know a lot, have seen a lot, but Purgatory isn’t one of them.”

  I grab his hand. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t expect you to hold my hand through this.”

  “It’s okay, απόγονος μου. I know you’ll handle whatever is there. But know this, Aurora. Nothing there can hurt you. You’re the living whilst they’re the dead. But they’ll be drawn to you, drawn to your life.”

  I look over the garden and spot Bob chasing a bird. I smile in spite of the dark conversation.

  “But they can’t hurt me?” I ask, needing to be sure.

  “Again, I’m going off stories. This is new territory. But, I don’t think so.”

  I nod. I trust him, but I’ll only have myself to trust in there. I plan to get in and get out as soon as possible. In the distance, the bird turns and pecks Bob, and he shouts then buffs up to twice his size.

  “What is he?” I point to Bob. I never asked before. With everything going on, his arrival was just one more weird thing in this strange place.

  “He’s magic. He doesn’t originate from here, but I saved him when he was younger. He sticks by my side and now yours. He’s grown attached to you.”

  I snort but hold in my smile. I’ve grown strangely attached to the gremlin, too.

  We’re quiet for a while, and I enjoy the peace before the storm.

  “When do I go?” I ask, finally breaking the silence.

  “Tomorrow morning.”

  I nod. Okay, one night to prepare. Staring at the ground, I consider everything I need to do when Bob pops up in front of me.

  “Cookie!” he shouts, scaring the shit out of me.

  With a scream, I leap back as he lets the bird cupped in his hands go.

  I fall backward into the fountain. My head submerges, and I sputter water from my mouth. When I try to stand, I fall back again.

  Eventually, I get up and stand there soaking wet as I glare at the laughing gremlin.

  A smile stretches across my face. “Run little gremlin.”

  He stops laughing and backs away. “Silly witch waits.”

  I fling a fireball at him.

  He yelps and breaks into a run.
>
  I chase after him, throwing more fireballs. What a sight I must be. A witch, no, a hybrid in a soaking wet red dress chasing a gremlin around.

  When night comes, I can’t sleep.

  Instead, I stare at the ceiling and go over everything that can go wrong.

  With a grumpy sigh, I get up, knowing I won’t sleep.

  I make my way by moonlight to my sanctuary and place my hand on the mirror.

  When it slowly clears of fog, my men sit before me.

  I smile and the tension leaves my body.

  I’ll see you soon, I promise silently.

  21

  Alexander

  Apparently finding a dream walker isn’t as easy as we first thought. Henry contacted me the day after our meeting and informed me he would need more time. I haven’t heard from him since.

  It feels like we’ve reached a dead end. All our hopes are dwindling.

  Ezra is more volatile than normal, Ben mopes around, and even Jason seems to have lost hope. Yet I know with certainty we won’t lose her. No matter where she is or how long it takes, I will get Aurora back.

  I sit by her bed as I vow it. We haven’t been this lost since Darius’s death. Even thinking about that sends me into a spiral. I couldn’t protect him, but I will protect her. I shove memories of my lost brother away, not ready to deal with the pain. I know one day it will bite me on the ass, but I can’t afford to be weak while my team, my family, falls apart.

  We healed from his death, but it was like putting a band-aid on a bullet wound. The pain, the guilt, lessened with Aurora around. Now though, it swims back to the surface, and it’s only going to be so long before it takes over.

  22

  Aurora

  “Are you ready, απόγονος μου?” Perses stands before me, we are back downstairs in the room with the fire, ready for me to head to Purgatory.

  I nod, mutely aware that my nerves make me feel sick. Can I even be sick when I haven’t eaten?

  I force my voice to be strong. “How do I get there?”

  “You’re already separated from your body, which is the hard part, so essentially it should be easy.” Despite the words, he sounds unsure.

  My eyes narrow on him. “Should be?”

  “Like I said, Aurora, I’ve never known anyone to go.”

  I sigh. “Okay, so how do I get there?”

  “You mentioned when I asked you what happened the day the reaper captured your men, in the cave, that there were six threads, and one was black?”

  I nod, not seeing where he’s going with it.

  “I don’t think the black thread was the reaper. I think it was Darius.”

  I start to pace. How would I have connected to a dead guy? I ask him as much.

  “Honestly, I’m not sure. You might have reached out to him subconsciously, or it could be due to your connection with the guys.”

  I stop and stand before him. “So, you think I follow the black thread like I did with Mikael?”

  He nods, a smile on his face.

  “Okay.” I get ready to lay down, then glare at the gremlin who stands in the doorway. “Don’t you dare lick me while I’m out or I’ll turn you into a frog.”

  Laying down on the sofa, I think through how I found the threads.

  “This is some inception shit right here,” I mutter, stalling. As I close my eyes, a thought hits me, making me bolt upright. “Wait! How do I get back?”

  Honestly, it should have occurred to me before now, but it really didn’t.

  Perses crouches next to me, reaching forward to brush a stray hair out of my face. “Follow your other threads back.”

  “So, I’m not coming back here? I won’t see you again?” My voice echoes his softness and sadness rolls through me.

  In the time I spent here, my attachment to the ancient god has grown. He feels like a brother to me. I’ll even miss the little gremlin.

  “This isn’t goodbye forever, Aurora; just for now.”

  I stare at him, memorizing his face. “See you soon.”

  He takes a deep breath and allows me to feel his emotions, all the ones he hides.

  I gasp with their intensity. He’s sad, proud, and… lonely? On impulse, I lean forward and wrap my arms around his neck. He remains stiff for a moment before relaxing and wrapping his arms around me.

  “I’ve lived a long life, απόγονος μου, yet I’ve rarely met any who shine as bright as you, who love as deep as you, and who care as deeply as you. You are truly pure.” I lie back and smile at him, his words spreading warmth through me.

  He leans forward and kisses my cheek. “See you soon, my little Aurora.”

  With an ancient destruction god and a gremlin watching over me, I follow a thread to Purgatory. Fun.

  23

  Aurora

  I don’t know how long I lay there, lost deep within myself, hunting for the threads.

  My magic pulses through me, a comforting warmth. I go to where I used to cage my magic only to find nothing.

  With an internal frown, I think about binding as Perses described. It’s about the head—magic—but most importantly, it’s about the heart.

  I make my way through my body with my magic open, allowing me to see.

  When I focus on my men and the feelings they induce, I notice the threads instantly. I ignore all the others, no matter how much I want to stop and marvel at them. There, in the shadow of the others, hides a black, frayed thread. It’s weak, but there.

  I wrap my magic around it, surrounding the black with my violet. It intertwines and pulses. I gasp. It feels like its tugging on my magic, feeding on it.

  I follow the thread.

  It’s hard to describe, but it’s like feeling around a room in the dark with nothing to guide you but a light at the other end. I walk toward that light, the thread, my anchor. I don’t know how long I walk. My feet hurt and my chest is tight. My magic twists and turns in me.

  My steps slow, like I wade through deep mud that tries to pull me down. I struggle with each step, but somehow, I know if I stop now, there’s no going back. I push through, my breathing the only noise in the void.

  When I see a light ahead, I squint and pick up my pace, gritting my teeth through the exhaustion and pain.

  I stumble and fall through the light with a scream.

  My body aches like it was torn apart and put back together again. I lay on the floor, panting.

  Slowly the pain recedes, allowing me to think. I drag myself to my feet, spinning to look around. I feel like I’m in a forest, with light streaming through fog where it can. Fog as thick as my magic spreads through the clearing, working its way around me. There’s something off about the clearing, though, and it’s not the fog.

  Everything is too dull, too dark, like a nightmare version. Okay, so I’m guessing this is Purgatory. It isn’t too bad, but which way do I go?

  As I debate my options, a crashing noise comes from behind me. The noise grows louder, and the sound of trees crunch under the weight of whatever heads toward me.

  It gets closer and closer.

  Stepping back, I keep my eyes on the tree line and try to keep my footsteps as quiet as possible. I feel the other trees moving at my back, but I don’t turn as a shadow moves at the other end of the clearing. I blend into the fog and trees, using the trunk of one as a shield. I peek around it as the thing appears in the clearing.

  Thing indeed.

  Shaped like a human, with two arms and two legs, it stands hunched over. But like the forest, it’s warped, corrupted, and dark. The thing wears no clothes, revealing dull gray skin. Its arms bend at impossible angles, so too long that they almost drag on the floor. Its legs, splayed and bent, end in feet bigger than any human’s.

  It lifts its head and sniffs.

  I watch in horror and fascination as it turns to where I hide. Where its eyes would be, there are none, just wrinkles, gray skin, with holes for a nose and a slit for a mouth. With a start, I realize it only has holes for
ears, too.

  What the hell is this thing?

  I step back behind the trunk. A good guess is it can’t see me, but I bet it can hear and smell me. I turn to look back, trying to think my way through this.

  Suddenly, it vanishes.

  I look around wildly. Where it stood is only empty earth and fog.

  A breath moves the hair on the back of my neck and sends a shiver down my spine. I don’t move, too afraid that whatever it is will attack. It stays there, breathing down my neck, and I hold my breath.

  At last, it moves away, and I slowly turn to look. I let my breath out in a low whoosh as the creature creeps away through the trees.

  Lifting my feet, I watch where I walk, trying not to make any noise as I sneak away from the creature. I have no idea if I’m going in the right direction, but I want space between me and that thing.

  The forest thins out eventually, and a field greets me at the other end.

  Great, an open plain where anything can attack me. I have no idea what awaits me, but I’m guessing it won’t be good. I debate my options. If I go back, it means facing that creature. When I open my magic to see the thread, it leads through the field.

  Of course, it does. Decision made.

  Looks like I’m going through the creepy field.

  As I step out into the field, I stay low to the long grass. With a start, I realize it’s black. I stare down at the earth. It, too, is black. Is everything dead here? No sun shines down, and even the moon seems muted, only offering enough light to see by.

  Halfway through the field, it changes. The grass becomes plants that reach my hip. I stop for a moment before pushing on. My hand brushes one as I walk, and I hold in my yelp of pain. Breathing through it, I hold my hand up.

  There, on the outside, blood oozes from a cut. I stare at the plant in horror. Barbs jut out from it, like rose thorns only bigger, at least the size of nails. I peer around and notice the same barbs on all the plants.