Page 124 of Legendary

Elise released my shirt and let me fall back against the pillows. “It probablywasfine, but now it’s fucking not. Dani sent you her dagger for a purpose because with Lilith around, her having it is likely the opposite of good. I don’t love saying this, but Blondie did make a point when you were knocked out. Dani wouldn’t hurt you purposely, I don’t think she would hurt any of us if she had a choice.”

“You think her taking that darkness from Nick made it easier for her to take him over?” Reese questioned.

“Yes, idiot, that’s pretty much what I’m saying.”

I stuck my tongue in my cheek. “But…why?”

Elise let out a long sigh. “Possession takes a lot of dark power and even though Dani is one of the best, she doesn’t have enough to pull something like that off. Not unless she’s being told what to do, manipulated. Enough power is being filtered into her to perform this kind of possession and her taking some of that darkness from you, that closeness that you two have, just made it that much easier.”

I felt a small pain in my chest thinking about it. “And let me guess, Lilith is feeding her more darkness and more power.”

Elise nodded and looked down at the dagger. “Exactly. And the only way Dani would ever let that happen is if she wasn’t herself, if she’d lost herself entirely, and wasn’t able to fight back. I felt it, okay. I know Lilith and Dani’s particular flavors of darkness all too well and I felt them both when you were in rage mode. I also felt hellfire, like the darkness had been molded with the pure essence of Hell itself. Lilith’s doing what she’s always doing. She’s being a puppeteer and she’s added Dimitri to the mix if Hell is involved, that’s for sure.

“I may not call us the best of friends, but I know Dani well enough. She absolutely hated complete darkness and that’s what you have to embody when you choose to possess someone, compulsion is so simple compared to it.”

Reese sat on the bed and brought his legs up, crossing them over one another, and tucking his feet under his thighs. “Well, what about when she went all rogue, almost killing Yuri and all that.”

Elise shrugged. “She’s always going to be connected to this place and sometimes the darkness can take over, but there was always a part of her that pushed back, alwayssomeoneto help do the pushing.” She snuck a glance in my direction. “She doesn’t have that anymore. I think Lilith has made her the kind of voided demon she’s been wanting.”

I looked down at the comforter, sliding my hands along the soft material. “Garrett and Leah did say the other demons weren’t strong enough to hold their own, they listened to her but never enough. She needed something with…connection, something with enough power to match her own.”

“And what better connection than with the one who made you.” Reese mumbled more to himself than to us.

I picked up the dagger and flipped it over in my palm. “Dani went against Lilith so many times. She told her Dani could kill Isabel if she went with her, Dani refused. She said she would let us go, Dani still refused, but after that nightmare, I guess Lilith got too close…”

“And she doesn’t take kindly to creatures making her ask multiple times for their loyalty. We’re all casualties now, Nicholas. And you, lover boy, were the easiest first target, get you to do all the dirty work upfront. Dani is a strong one and she didn’t have any weaknesses until now.Youare her new weakness, and she knows it.”

“We can get her back though, right?” I asked, trying to sound more optimistic than I felt.

Elise raised her eyes to the ceiling. “She won’t be the same person; her light is smothered in darkness and Lilith’s manipulation. I felt malice and brutality when I came close enough to sense that darkness on you. So, I can’t tell you I know what saving her will look like.”

“But you do want to save her, right?” Reese pressed, giving her a skeptical look.

“Of course, I do. She’s my fr–” She caught herself then cleared her throat. “Nice try Blondie.” Reese laughed quietly, shaking his head. He placed his hands on his knees and glanced over at me before he spoke. “My only thought is I just don’t know how putting her completely in the dark will help with destroying Heaven’s Gate, Oculus, the portals, any of it.”

I placed my hand on my chest feeling the portal key Natalia had given to me. I reached into my shirt and pulled it out, examining it. “Neither do I, but I think I know someone who might.”

I smoothed down the front of my pants as I got comfortable in bed. I held the portal key firmly in my hand and looked around at everyone. Axel sat comfortably on Reese’s lap and Elise shook her head as she took a seat at the very end of my bed. Beetee sat on the other side, nervously biting at her lower lip. She hadn’t told us if she’d spoken anymore to her parents besides when she went to check on them, but I had a feeling pushing her to speak wouldn’t get us anywhere. She seemed adamant on saving the issue for later and kept insisting that she wasn’t the priority.

Leah and Garrett said that they would set up the foundation of the plan with Willa and Louise downstairs, but to come get them if they could be of any help during my outer body talk with Natalia. I hated thinking that this talk with her could potentially get us nowhere or that she would end up telling me something I didn’t want to hear. If I was being honest, I didn’t know which one I really preferred, but I was blatantly aware that Natalia would tell me the truth whichever way it went.

“You tell her everything and leave nothing out. If she doesn’t know theanswers, then I would be very certain that we’re fucked.” Elise shrugged, dangling her feet off the side of the bed.

“And that’s the reason we won’t let you do pep talks anymore,” Reese said, rolling his eyes and petting Axel’s head. “Get what you need so we can finally do this thing.”

I nodded and felt Beetee’s hand as she grabbed my own and squeezed it. We were an odd team, but we were a team nonetheless and I found myself not wanting it any other way. I gripped the portal key tighter and closed my eyes. I felt myself drifting as I had before and then I was back in that forest. I was back in that silent place with moving trees and the smell of cedar wafting in my nose. I stood still waiting for her to appear, preparing myself for if she decided to pop up out of…

“Nicholas.” I jumped at the sound of her voice. I turned around and watched as she came from a cloud of fog that dissipated with every step she took. Her dark hair was down, parted in the middle and a glittering crown was on her head, while pieces of her hair were weaved throughout it. Her dark skin glittered with colorful sparkles along her cheeks and arms. There was a bangle on both her arms and various amounts of rings adorned each of her fingers.

She picked up her long, velvet, red dress as she stepped through some leaves and finally stopped in front of me. “Is this another checkup?” She looked me over, focusing on my face, her hand reaching up to gently run her thumb over my head wound. Her honey-colored eyes roamed around my body and then stopped at the slashes on my arms. “What happened?”

I shook my head. “None of this is important. Or maybe it is, it’s just…I’m not the point right now. Dani is.”

The High Priestess tilted her head to the side. “Dani?”

I ran my hand through my hair, fidgeting. “Yeah. She left the other night to go see Lilith. I don’t really know what she was thinking, but it’s bad Natalia. We had every plan to go after her, but now…”

She gripped my forearm, causing me to look into her eyes. “Tell me everything and maybe we can figure something out together.”

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