Page 91 of Ever Dark

The three of us form a protective circle around her. This part of the woods is forbidden, a place no sane person would dare enter. Whether you believe the legends or not, you stay away just in case.

Mia shivers, her fingers trembling around the hilt of the blade. “It’s like it has electricity running through it.”

“It holds a lot of power,” I whisper as if the blade might hear me.

She winces as she draws the first cut. “Fuck, that hurts.”

We draw in closer, encircling her like soldiers protecting their queen on the battlefield. By the third cut, her knees are wobbling. “Guys… I feel weird.”

Aries whispers loud enough for us to hear, “Relax, little lamb. It’s just the power of the raven.”

“So many sigils were carved with that dagger,” Bones adds.

She’s on her knees now, facing the tree. She takes a deep quivering breath and makes the final cut. “I offer my soul in exchange for Nox. Free him from my nightmares, let him walk amongst us. And in return, I will let you feed on my soul for eternity.”

That last part makes my stomach turn. Someday, when the timecomes, I will sell my soul as well. If she is locked out of the After, forced to roam this land forever, I will be by her side.

“Fuck,” she cries out as she rubs her blood over the splintered tree. She bites her lip and closes her eyes, her face paling.

“I can’t believe we have to leave her here all night. What if something else comes for her?” Bones’s eyes dart around the woods, his shoulders tense.

Aries shakes his head. “Nah, she’ll be fine. Even the animals know better than to come near this tree.”

I snicker. “We are the foolish ones, then.”

Mia whimpers, her eyelids fluttering as she curls up on the ground. “I can’t keep my eyes open.”

I lean down next to her tiny frame. “Good. That means it’s working. We have to go now, Trouble. But if you’re not back by morning, I will find you.”

“I want you to stay,” she pleads.

“Shhh, sleep, little pyro,” Aries coaxes. “He’ll be here soon.”

The poison burns through my veins as we walk away. I keep telling myself we aren’t abandoning her, that this is what has to be done for her to get what she wants. She assured me earlier that she understands we have to leave. It’s between her and the devil and Nox.

But if she doesn’t come back to us by sunrise, I will burn that tree to the ground.

NOX

Isee the tree. Her. The night sky. The air is clean, earthy, and thick with the freshness of wet leaves and soil.

I remember.

There was a before. I was in these woods. Not me. A part of me. They aren’t my memories. But I feel them as if they are.

Mia looks as peaceful as she does when she’s in my bed. In our nightmare world. But the colors are sharper and brighter. Her skin glistens from the morning dew.

It worked. My dark one kept her promise. She sacrificed her soul to save mine. I kneel down beside her, my limbs shivering for the first time. The wind chills me. A sensation I only have a distant memory of.

I caress her cheek, thankful that I still have my claws. I wasn’t sure what form I’d take in this world. I touch my horns and my tail, making sure they are still there as well. We have crossed a dangerous line. My form is not supposed to be here. So, I will beconfined to another prison, but at least it will be a waking one. I’m content with being bound to her home. As long as I am with her.

“I must get you back before anyone sees us, my love.” I scoop her up gently in my arms and lift her off the wet ground. I’m certain that a naked monster carrying a woman through the forest would not be taken well.

She whimpers against me. “Nox…”

“Yes, dark one. I’m here.” I continue down a narrow path, remembering the way to Harker Mansion as if I’ve been there before. It’s a shared memory, a collection of fragments that belong to other damned souls.

With each breath of this new air, my lungs expand. She seems tinier in my arms today. In the great expanse around us, I feel smaller as well. Even at nearly seven feet, I am but a speck in the great space that stretches beyond us in every direction.

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