Page 54 of Magic and Mayhem

Eryx guides me forwards, and a dark sky comes into view with all different colors of ether seeming to swirl within it.

“What is it?” I ask, wanting to reach up to try and touch the beauty of it all. I pictured Hell as an eternal wasteland filled with fire and the tears of the wicked in suffering. I never imagined such beauty with a sky so ethereal.

“Much like the stars hold the power of life and light in your realm, the ether is our tether to this plane. It is here and within the soil of the earth. It’s our tie to your realm and your tie to us.”

His hand lands on my shoulder, holding me close. “Is it possible to break that tie?” I wonder aloud.

A beat of silence passes before I glance up to see Eryx shaking his head.

“No. Your crops would all die out. Famine and pestilence would consume your lands until there’s nothing left. Just as our skies would turn black and the small corners of Hell that do have peace would be overrun by sorrow and carnage.”

“There must be a balance,” I whisper, thinking back to the words Lilu told me the first day I arrived at the carnival.

“The Fates work tirelessly to ensure that.”

Eryx turns me in his hold, clasping our hands together before looking up at the sky then back to me, so much love shining through those endless eyes.

“I claim you, Evolet, as my one true mate. My other half. The part of my soul that longs for love and beauty is yours.”

I let the Fates guide my movements as I pull him closer, hearing the words I need to speak in my head and meaning them just as fiercely as Eryx means his.

“I claim you, Eryx. The keeper of my soul, the protector of my heart. You are the part of me I need so that fear never stops me from reaching my full potential.”

I stand on my tiptoes and Eryx brushes a kiss over my lips. A blinding light envelops us, lifting us on a gust of wind just a few inches off of the ground before depositing us back on the soil.

“It is done, Mate.”

I smile up at him, feeling his happiness as deeply as my own. Eryx turns, bending to lift me into his arms, but a strange urge overtakes me.

“Wait,” I say, pressing a hand to his bare chest. We are still fully naked, but I’m coming to find that it doesn't bother me as much as it once did.

“Can you make me a vial?” I glance around, feeling like this is vitally important. Eryx hands me a glass with a lid that I unscrew.

“Evolet,” Eryx tries to warn, but it’s too late. I can feel hands guiding me to do this. Reaching for a rose, I’m careful to avoid the thorns as I pluck one from the stem.

“Shit. We need to go.”

A wind rolls over the fields of flowers so powerful that it knocks me back, but I manage to get the rose into the empty glass before handing them both to Eryx.

His mouth drops open, but I look back to see a figure floating over the fields, their screams loud enough to be heard over the howling winds.

“I think we need to go.”

That cold, oppressive feeling coats my skin before I find us both standing in our tent at the carnival once again, the vial safe in Eryx’s hands. I quickly take them and set them on the desk, knowing that they’re important but not understanding why yet.

“You stole from Persephone,” Eryx finally whispers.

“Is that a big deal?” I question with a wince.

A grin so big spreads over his face I worry he’s about tosplit his violet cheeks in half.

“No one has ever claimed a flower of Persephone’s and lived to tell the tale.”

I glance back at the spot we just teleported from with worry filling me. “Can she follow us?”

“No,” he says in a rush, lifting me off my feet and swinging me in the air. “You are quite magnificent, my love.”

“Alright,” a voice calls out from the entrance of our tent, and we both turn to face the intruder. “I think that’s enough mate bonding. I want to meet my cousin.”

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