Page 136 of Soul of a Witch

“They’ve brought her to me.” It cackled, body writhing, unable to crawl any further. It kept talking, even as I unleashed a firestorm that swirled around it, stripping flesh from bone. “Her precious demon will die, just like yours. You’re too late, witch.YOU’RE TOO FUCKING LATE!I have her…and her suffering…is so…sweet…”

When my flames finally died, I stood there gasping, swaying on my feet. All that remained of Victoria was a few blackened bones protruding from the water.

49

Callum

Electricity crackled in the darkness as Everly slowly lowered her arms. The charred remains of her sister sunk into the mud, the scent of burned flesh hanging in the air as the smoke slowly dissipated.

“It has her,” she said. “The God has Raelynn.”

There was no fear in her eyes. No despair. Nothing but grim resignation.

“There’s no more time,” she said. “We have to keep going. We have to kill It.”

The air shimmered around her, waves of heat emanating from her. As I stepped closer, she wrapped her arms around me, and for a moment, I felt the dread in her heart. The bitter acknowledgment that after everything, this could be the end.

The end of our journey. The end ofus.

My entire being demanded that I take her away from here. Save her. Protect her. Even if it angered her, she would forgive me eventually. She would see that I had no other choice.

A snarl ripped out of me as I held her, and she looked up, meeting my eyes. “We’ll face It together, Callum,” she said. “As we were always meant to. You waited two thousand years for this.”

“No,” I said. “I waited two thousand years foryou.To hear your voice again. To see your face. To touch you.” My fingers stroked over her cheek, tucking back a strand of her long hair. Her scent surrounded me, and it wasdifferentthan it used to be, but I couldn’t determine why. Part of my own scent had melded with hers, becoming one and the same. “For so long, you haunted me. The familiar face of a stranger in a hundred lifetimes. As if we were always circling each other, two planets in cosmic alignment, thrown into a continuous loop by the power of one another. I waited for you, before I even knew it was you I was waiting for.”

I kissed her forehead, and said, “To my last breath, I’ll fight for you. Beyond this life, beyond death, I’ll love you always.”

“I love you. My guardian. My demon. My warrior. We’ll find our way out of the dark. Your war will end. You’ll lay down your weapons. We’ll have peace.”

Onward we went into the dark depths of the mine.

Old wooden framing, covered with sprouting mushrooms, supported the narrow tunnels. There were bones, ancient and bleached, some still wearing the ragged clothes they died in. Miners, trapped here over a hundred years ago. Everly’s fire lit our way, but even my sharp eyes couldn’t see far in this oppressive darkness.

Strange cries echoed in the tunnels. The howls, clicks, and growls of numerous Eld creatures. The God’s rotten magic made their existence possible, and they were gathered within Its den like vultures eager for scraps. Everly’s flame would occasionally shine in the eyes of a beast lurking ahead, but they swiftly fled from us.

The ground rumbled around us, tremors running through the walls. Everly stopped, staring at the ceiling with wide eyes as pebbles dropped around us.

“How stable do you think these old tunnels are?” she said.

“Not stable enough. We need to keep moving.”

The tunnels went on endlessly. Twisting and turning, up and down. We at last came to a massive shaft, stabilized with wooden framing. Old, rickety ladders led further down into the dark. The salty stench of seawater emanated from below.

With Everly on my back, I climbed down. Water dripped all around us, trickling into the unknown depths. Everly sucked in her breath sharply, her grip on me tightening, and I paused. “What’s wrong?”

“I can feel the God,” she whispered. “It’s close. Like fingernails on the inside of my skull.” She kept taking deep, slow breaths as she strengthened her mental defenses. “It knows I’m here.”

We reached the next level of the mine, and as soon as Everly’s feet were on solid ground again, she leaned her hand against the wall of the tunnel, clutching her stomach as she closed her eyes.

“It’s just nausea,” she said. “My head is vibrating. We’re close, Callum. Very close.”

She straightened slowly, swallowing hard. She reached for the enchanted blade on her belt and drew it from its sheath, before continuing determinedly down the dark tunnel ahead.

The path sloped downward, and Everly’s light stretched ahead of us, illuminating a dead end. The tunnel had collapsed, massive rocks blocking our way. Everly frowned, stepping forward to lay her hand against the stones.

“There’s something on the other side,” she said, closing her eyes. After a moment, she opened them again and stepped back. She widened her stance, gulping in deep breaths.

She shoved her hands forward against the pile of rocks. They exploded outward, all but the largest boulders removed from our way by the force of her magic. I cleared the larger stones myself, bracing my shoulder against them to shove them aside and open the way into the cave beyond.

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