Page 81 of Hellfire

“Luna!” Talon’s shout was barely audible over the funnel surrounding me.

The darkness carried me with it, and the next thing I knew, I was on my knees, on the floor in a circle of rune stones in room with stone walls and no windows. A basement, most likely.

Black wax dripped from lit candles, though the flames burned with darkness instead of light. The only pale glow in the room came from the radiance of my mind map, laid out on atable in the corner. Fangs bared on a series of cobra sculptures forming the magick circle. A deep part of my brain identified the breed by the shape of its head, teeth, round pupils, smooth scales, and the hood on its neck. I had to get out of here or at least figure out exactly whereherewas.

I stood and rubbed at my arms, the tiny snakes gone.

I raised my hands to sense magick and detected a barrier of dark forces.

Hello, granddaughter. Camus’ voice invaded every corner of my mind.

It took everything in me not to step back, startled.

He slithered out of the shadows with my grandmother, both coiled by scaly chains of snakes. Dark robes shrouded their bodies, the slightest hint of a long black gown peeking from beneath Phoebe’s. Whatever spell he cast from the Book of the Dead restored her health, beauty, and clarity to her eyes. Neither of them looked old and withered like previous times we crossed paths. Camus certainly wasn’t on death’s door, thanks to the Ghul curse he absorbed. Stealing Blaze’s magick obviously cured him of that.

Childhood memories struck me. Playing games, him taking me to the play park, us making various items out of Play Doh, painting on paper, building cubby houses. Activities that a normal grandparent and grandchild did together. Cheap tricks designed to inspire a moment that would overwhelm me and suck me into his trap.

“Cut the crap!” I shouted. “What do you want? You’ve got my mind map. You killed my parents. Turned my boyfriend into a slave. What else do you want to take from me?”

He laughed, full of pride, triumph, and gloating.

My grandmother’s reptilian eyes landed on me. “Welcome back, poppet.”

Like hell I was her poppet. We might be related by blood, but that was the only connection. I was not one of them.

“Let me out of here right now.” I raised my palms, searching for a weakness in the barrier to exploit and escape.

Phoebe smiled a mouth full of sharp fangs she didn’t have when we’d met previously. Snake magic obviously worked wonders for her appearance. “What a way to speak to your grandmother. All these years apart have done nothing for your manners. In the new world that’s coming, Luna, you’ll learn to comport yourself if you’re going to be one of the rulers of it.”

All those years in a catatonic state must’ve fried her brain if she thought I’d want to rule with her. I kept that to myself and played along, exploiting her insane illusions.

Phoebe slithered across the room to a lectern holding an open spell book. The Book of the Dead, presumably. My stomach cramped.

She stroked the open page. “Now that we have all the missing puzzle pieces from your traitorous parents who tried to hide it from us, we have the ability to conjure the sixth element.”

The warning from the biker struck like lightning. Ultimate power.

My heart raced, and I broke out in a cold sweat. “You already have power. What more could you want?”

Phoebe gripped the book’s edges tightly as if afraid it might be stripped from her. “You’ll understand soon, poppet.”

“All right. Get to it then.” I was under no illusions that I’d survive beyond the moment she capitalized on this ultimate power and got whatever she needed from my summoning.

“That’s the granddaughter I know.” Camus wriggled his steepled fingers, and I resisted frowning at the ugliness of their power lust.

“It’s time for you to surrender the sigil to us.” Phoebe uttered a chant of dark language that made my insides crawl and itch.

The sigil rumbled, resisting the summons of a new master. An idea to prevent them from taking it from me snapped in my brain. I had no clue if this would work while trapped inside a dark magick circle, but I took the chance. I called on the Veil energy to weave around me into a cocoon of defensive power. Dark venom spat from the snake sculptures, dissolving my protection, subjecting me to my grandmother’s dark hold. Pressure mounted in my head like a dark force sucked it from my head.

No!

They took everything from me. My parents. My life. My bonded. And now my best friend through their filthy, corrupt channels in the Guild. They were not having this power.

I threw everything I had to repel it. Bit by bit, I lost the battle, the spitting venom burning my skin, absorbing into it. Retching, I collapsed to the stone. Fire ignited in my veins as the poison corrupted me. She crawled into my mind, hunting for it, and cleared the symbol from my memory.

Phoebe held her palm skyward, the fateful sigil glowing an inch above it. “You will be punished for not cooperating.”

Numbness wrapped around my being, and I crumpled onto the stone floor.

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