Page 13 of Gift from the Source
We’re about to reunite brothers that have spent years separated from one another. Never knowing if today or any day was going to be their last. Not only that, the two of them trapped here, get to meet and awaken their fourth and final bond.
It’s exhilarating.
“You just don’t know when to give up, do you, girl?”
The voice that travels down the hall to us halts our footsteps momentarily and it snatches me right out of my mind, causing my exhilaration to give way to a mixture of confusion and aggravation.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Breaking out of my shock, I haul ass around the corner to the lone hallway with everyone right on my heels behind me. As soon as my eyes lock onto those that stand blocking the door we need to get through, I grimace.
“Fuckface. You’ve seen better days.”
I don’t have an ounce of guilt or remorse as I take in the angry, melted skin that’s butchered and hanging from Gish’s face. It’s a sickening sight to behold, that’s for sure. Although someone tried their damnedest to heal him. It looks as though the healer didn’t attempt to remove the melted skin but tried to mold it back together.
That didn’t work and now his face droops in dead, wrinkled layers.
All the hair on his head is gone, leaving behind a shiny scarred scalp that’s no longer tan like the rest of his skin but multiple shades of angry red. One side of his face took far more of the burn than the other and I can’t help but stare at the closed over indention of where an eyeball should be.
“This isn’t going to end the way you think it’s going to, girl,” Gish barks and his brothers step closer to his side.
“Yeah, yeah. You said that last time. Look at you now. I assume demoted, stuck in the nonmagical realm because really, what use are you to the Summum-Master with one eye?”
“You’re not getting through this—”
“I’m so fuckingover this.”
Shockingly, it’s Corentin who growls out that sentiment, and faster than I was prepared for, four of his clones stand in front of Gish and his brothers.
I follow the outstretched hand that rises beside my face and turn just in time to see his replicas slam their hands on the men’s chests. He gives them no warning as his air forces what I assume is more than their lungs to explode. Their bodies hit the ground simultaneously with echoing thuds and the four Corentins turn around to face us as one.
“That’s incredibly unnerving,” my brother whispers behind me.
That’s incredibly hot.
“Could’ve let me read their minds before you impulsively did that,” Tillman remarks sarcastically.
“That would’ve required apprehending them, removing the runes, then reading their minds. I don’t have the time or patience for that currently. They didn’t have anything we want or need, and they honestly got off easy in my opinion. Cas, clean up if you don’t mind,” Corentin says smoothly as he calls his gift back to him expertly.
I nearly melt into a puddle when he smirks over at me and flicks away imaginary lint off his shirt.
“Your turn, Primary,” Caspian says chuckling, smiling proudly at his brother after a wave of his shadows covers the bodies, leaving nothing in my way to approach the door.
Riding the high of Corentin’s well-deserved confidence, I pull my shoulders back and walk toward the daunting door that’s no longer concealed from view.
It’s different now than any other time I’ve seen it.
My finger traces the new groove in the wood that’s never been there before. There are no designs, nothing grand, just a large circle chiseled smack in the center of the door.
“Whatever you’re tracing, child, we can’t see,” Gaster says quietly behind me.
“None of you see the circle?” I ask, peering over my shoulder to watch everyone shake their heads.
Humming, I mentally modify the spell I’ve learned a few different ways now, and on my exhale, I cast my magic out.
“Reveal the truth for our knowing eyes,
Show us the secrets behind their disguise.”
