Chapter Two Hundred and Forty One.
DAEMON’S POV
“I think I know where they’ve taken her,” Julia said.
“Then we should get going immediately,” I replied, but she shook her head.
“We won’t make it to her in time.”
“Well, standing here doing nothing isn’t helping–so fucking lead the way.”
I was growing restless, and the delay was only making it worse.
She reached into her bag and I caught Alexander stiffen, his eyes locked on her every move. I hadn’t even realized she’d been carrying anything.
But all she pulled out was a rope. She handed it to me.
“What the fuck is this? A rope?”
“Not just any rope. It’s enchanted–meant for supernatural beings, especially those with abilities and gifts. If we’re too late and the goddess has already taken over Aliyah’s body, we’ll need this to bind her. It’s the only way to stop her… at least temporarily.”
I took the rope. It looked ordinary, but the moment I touched it, I felt the pulse of its magic.
“Daemon and I will go find her,” Alexander said. But of course, I could already see an argument brewing–one we didn’t have time for.
“It’s either we all go or you’ll stay and let me go.” Kaida said, the challenge clear in her voice.
“This could be dangerous. I don’t want you anywhere near it.”
“I can take care of myself. You have to stop treating me like a child.”
“I know that,” Alexander replied. “But someone needs to keep an eye on Julia–I don’t trust her enough to leave her here alone.”
He didn’t seem to care that Julia was standing right there.
Kaida finally gave a reluctant nod.
“Thank you,” Alexander said, kissing her on the lips.
“We need to get going now,” I said, my patience thin. The pair parted without another word.
This was the place Julia had described. I would’ve brought her with us, but she would only slow us down.
The building walls were made of dark, worn stone. The pillars were wrapped in faded, torn cloth that moved
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slightly in the breeze, like old flags left behind.
“Looks abandoned to me” Alexander says.
“Be careful in there, this might be a set up.” I said, and together we walked into the building.
The smell hit my nose.
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Chapter Two Hundred and Forty One
I would recognize that smell anywhere. It was Aliya’s blood
I traced the smell, stopping before a door that had been locked. I broke it open and walked in.
I noticed the lit candles and the men in black cloaks, all on their knees as if in worship–of something, or someone. On a table lay a naked figure: a woman with both wrists slit. The white cloth beneath her was stained deep red with blood, and more had gathered around her chest.
Aliyah.
Too late. Once again.
The ‘worshippers‘ rose to their feet, one after another, blocking her from my view.
“You should not be here. You can’t-”
I was already on him before he could finish. I drove my hand into his chest and ripped out his heart with a roar of fury.
I didn’t want to believe it. She couldn’t be dead.
The man dropped to the ground as his heart went up in flames in my hand, I was about to do the same to the next when Alexander stopped me, motioning toward something I hadn’t noticed.
Aliyah. She was on her feet now–the slits on her wrists and the deep wound on her chest had somehow disappeared.
She looked so much like my Aliyah… but at the same time, she was different. There was a boldness in her stride, power in her eyes that hadn’t been there before.
The Regents dropped to their knees before her.
“Blessed be the goddess of light,” they recited, and she stood there, taking in their praise.
“You’ve done well, my children. Very well,” she commented. “But I fear I have no more use for you.”
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It all happened in less than a second. With a swift motion, she drove the glowing, flame–red dagger through all four throats. They collapsed, gasping, choking on their own blood. Shock filled their wide eyes as the wounds darkened, the blackness creeping across their bodies like rot. Within moments, they were nothing more than piles of black ash.
One moment they were living beings and the next, they weren’t.
She picked up the white robe they had laid out for her, slipped it on, and walked toward me.
“Aliyah?” I called.
“Aliyah is gone. She sacrificed her life and her body to me.
I go by many names: the goddess of light, Lumaria, Alura.. But you can call me Solene.”
So similar, and yet so different.
“What did you do to Aliyah?”
“I did nothing. They“—she pointed to the heap of ash-“took her from you. But you don’t have to worry. I’m here now. And I could be so much more than she ever was.”
I shoved her against the wall. She could have retaliated, but for some reason, she didn’t. The smile on her face never wavered. “You won’t hurt me, not when you believe you’d also be hurting her,” Solene said, her eyes locked
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Chapter Two Hundred and Forty One
onto mine. I pulled away.
She was right. I believed Aliyah was still in there somewhere; I only had to reach her. But for now I needed to constrain her.
I signaled to Alexander, and he lunged at her. She reacted faster than I could have imagined, hurling a ball of energy toward him. The impact slammed him against the wall, but somehow, he managed to land on his feet.
She was powerful. But all I needed was a distraction, and he had given me that. Before she realized what I was doing, I had the rope tied around her wrist. She struggled to get it off, but the more she struggled, the tighter it got.
I had doubted if an ordinary–looking rope like this could really be enough to stop her, but it seemed Julia was right about it.
The look she gave me was of pure betrayal, the exact same expression Aliyah had worn when I’d chosen the Nexus Amulet over her- the day I destroyed the one good thing I truly had.
Even knowing she wasn’t Aliyah, I was tempted to free her, just to wipe that look of disappointment off her face.
“Let’s go.” Alexander said, and I nod, holding her close.
So similar and yet so different.
