Page 32 of Lord of Eternal Night (Darkmourn Universe 1)

My mind could not comprehend what I was seeing as the body materialised before me, not completely though as the edges of the colourless girl shivered.

I blinked, unsure what I was witnessing. Flames danced around my fingers, ready and waiting for my release.

“Your magic will not harm me.” She kept deathly still. “Calm yourself.”

I fisted my hand, closing off my connection to the fire. Everything was silent as I stared dumfounded at the girl.

“What…”

“A soul. A ghost. A spirit. Your guess is as good as mine, believe me. But I am already dead. Your magic will not harm me, so do not waste your time using it.”

I studied her shimmering figure, rubbing at my eyes in hopes that it would help make sense of what I saw when I opened them again. My mind could not fathom what I witnessed. Not as the child hovered from the ground in a billow of unseen wind.

Then it hit me. “It was you. The first day, it was you who gave me the key.”

“It was.” There was something aged about her tone. Her voice was light as a child’s, but the hidden undercurrent was anything but young.

“And with Marius.” The vision of the night I had followed him into the lower floors of the castle filled my mind.

“He was careless to let you follow,” she scorned. “But that is Marius. Careless and foolish. And it would seem you are not different, using your power in this castle, let alone at night when he roams freely.”

“I cannot let you tell him.” I stood, readying all the elements to wait for my word. All my training and I had never been told how to destroy a spirit. Souls of the dead did not linger on this plane. That’s what Mother told me. But here one stood.

“And what are you going to do?” she said, arms folding across her colourless body. “Set me ablaze like you did your room? Blow me away with some gust of stale air?” She almost laughed as she taunted me. “If you stop accusing me and actually listen you would know that I would not tell Marius what I have seen. If I wanted to ruin your plans I could have done so days ago.”

It was a strange feeling, being told off by a girl, let alone one that was not alive. “Why? Why not tell him?”

“We have watched you since your first day. If we wanted to inform Marius of your secrets we would have done so. I trusted you would be smart about concealing your power, but you risk exposure when using it during the night. It was a foolish risk you were about to take.”

It felt as though I was being scorned by Lamiere. Not a child.

I stepped forward, hands ready at my sides. I would try everything to end this… thing. “And why do you care if I succeed?”

There was no reason to hide the snarl of the beast that lived within me. The one poised and ready to kill when and if required.

“Because we want this curse to end. And I know why you are here and what you plan to do. I heard your last council with the woman in the water. I know you are here to take Marius’s life. It is time this ends.”

My brows furrowed as I closed in on the spirit. “We?”

“The rest of us agitated souls. We are trapped in this god forsaken castle as part of the dammed curse your bloodline put upon him. For years I have wandered these rooms, seeing others come and die. Only to join me in this haunting existence. It must end. And we will do anything to see it through.”

“I heard you speak with him. You are his closest… friend. Yet you would let me go on knowing that I will kill him?”

The spirit closed her pale eyes for a moment. “You will try to kill him and I do hope you succeed. There are countless souls in this castle that know what happens on that fateful night. How he changes into a…”

“Beast.” The elements slipped away from me as the realisation hit. Marius had killed her. Her name likely sat waiting upon the shelf in his study.

“His kind is nameless. The first of whatever he is. A twisted creature made by the same magic that runs through your blood and soul. Believe me, I do not wish death upon Marius in the manner you may think. I simply wish him freedom. As I want it for myself.”

My body grew heavy as I listened to the phantom. How her face was pinched in sorrow, all but her eyes that seemed to scream with a plea. Pleading for me to do what needed to be done.

“I feel as if I should know your name,” I said. “You know much about me, it is only fair.”

“Victorya,” she replied, blinking her wide, round eyes. It was impossible to imagine the colour they would have been. What shade her hair had glowed beneath the sun. Now she was only shades of grey and white.

“You told him not to get close to me,” I said. “I heard you, Victorya.”

“Because it is worse for us all. If you fail and your soul does not pass on as it should, Marius will be left with yet another painful reminder of what he did. You will wander the shadows. Unseen unless he requires your presence.”

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