SERAPHINA
The dried blood around my hips was itchy and sticky. Despite my change of dress, it made me uncomfortable as we walked through the halls. Each step felt like it was leading me closer to my end.
A voice in my head reminded me that I never thought Iâd be walking barefoot in a dress again after my wedding.
My body felt heavy, making it hard to keep up with Damien as we walked. As we stood outside the doors, I quickly realized that the smell of blood wasnât just coming from me. It was heavy in the air, like a rotten metallic stench.
My eyes adjusted to the horrifying scene in front of me. It was a twisted version of my party, one that belonged in the bowels of hell itself. The room was filled with about thirty people, all wearing animal masks.
They were enjoying themselves in this perverse horror. The room was filled with the dismembered bodies of my staff. Intestines were used as table linings.
Hands and fingers were folded into perverse, dripping centerpieces. Torn ligaments, bones, and tendons were hung on the walls like artwork. A womanâs torso was hanging from a hook, swinging back and forth as it was being hacked at by two people in the middle of a game.
The sight of a guest holding up an arm like a trophy near the back made me gag. I prayed that the torso wasnât Tina or Glory. My worst fears were confirmed when the last limb was cut off.
Tinaâs butterfly tattoo peeked out of the grasp of another person holding it, screaming with excitement as she jumped away from the group.
~She just wanted braces for her kid.~
I couldnât move forward. I stopped to throw up. The smell of death was choking me.
The pain and grief were overwhelming. I realized Rafe had been right. There would be no tomorrow for me.
Damien checked his watch as I spit, wiping my mouth with my sleeve. I was struggling to keep my stomach under control. Tears filled my eyes as I thought about opening them again.
Damien, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying the scene. A look of pleasure spread across his face. It was a look I had never seen before, and it terrified me.
He had hired and worked closely with many of the people who were now dead in this room. Yet somehow, he was taking pleasure in the carnage.
âDionysus is a god of wine and pleasureâand pleasure for the perverse to reach into the shadows,â Damien said, sounding oddly joyful.
His words made me throw up again.
âHeâs certain to give some appropriate compensation where normal humans are concerned for this orb. Least of all for returning you to where you belong.â
I spit again, trying to compose myself. I kept my eyes low, unable to face the horrors in the room, yet somehow more than capable of facing a monster like him.
âYouâre an idiot if you think for a second Iâm worth anything to anyone. Iâve been nothing butââ
âAn endlessly weak burden, yes, Iâm fully aware of your ~medical~ flaws. Flaws that still werenât fully improved even with the world-changing power of this ring. Whatever is wrong with you is beyond this realm, and it was naive of Jack to have had any faith in you reviving him after his death.â
My heart sank. His words sounded just like something Jack would have done. The wind seemed to knock out of me with the information.
âJackâ¦wanted me to resurrect him?â
âI suppose I had a soft spot for your doe-eyed innocence as much as anyone else, until you kept that genetic program,â Damien said. âI realized how little you thought of creatures as much as any billionaire thinks of a human being. After a while, it was pretty easy to see you for what you were. You just canât keep trying to pretend to be a good person when your hands are so dirty. Even after the stunt you pulled trying to free all those poor people your husband trafficked, you didnât bat an eyelash to kill some of the people in your program. I mean, theyâre not really people, just monsters Jack created for your amusement, right?â
âThatâs not. No. I tried to help people. Damien, you have no idea how important that research is unless you lay eyes on it, and the ones that died. They were dangerous. Disbanding it meant killing all of those people or releasing them into the world, so I kept it toââ
âThe most humane approach,â Damien replied dryly. âOh yes, I heard you on the phone.â
I glared back at him, our eyes locked. âMore than I can say for you. You think Iâm bad? Look at what youâve done. You practically lived with these people, you saw them every day. Youâre a monster.â
Damien let out a laugh, glancing at his watch. âNearly show time.â
âWhat makes you so sure he wonât tear you to shreds? Or that you wonât summon something else entirely? That ring isnât a sure thing. The amount of power youâll need to complete the ritual, or to control whatever comes through, let aloneââ
âShut it. Damien knows what heâs doing,â Lilith interrupted, appearing behind Damien wearing a flamingo mask.
Beside her was a woman in a peacock mask who looked like she had a sour expression on her face.
âPlus, we have supernatural creatures of all sorts here tonight. It makes us one of the most unique covens in decades. This isnât the first time some of us have come face to face with a god and lived to tell the tale.â
~Other supernatural creatures? Holy shit.~ My eyes widened in surprise. It was one thing to have one or two supernaturals in your group, but a whole array was unheard of. Most creatures with any type of gift stuck to their own kind where it was safest.
It also wasnât like you could just lift a rock and find several different species underneath.
âWhy would you want to bring about the end of times? You live here too,â I asked, trying to understand Damienâs logic.
âIrony? I mean, my name and all the biblical stuff is pretty poetic, donât you think?â he replied, grinning before he chuckled slightly. His hands slid into his pockets as he surveyed the chaos.
âNo. Itâs simple, Seraphina. The man with the most power, at the end of a game, wins. I intend to be a winner, to gain power beyond anyoneâs imagination. Plus, if you do a favor for a god, they owe you one in return.â
The lights started to dim, and drums began to play. Guests retreated to the edges of the room, making way for our group. Dark robes gathered around as doors began to close, masks remaining on or being placed on as everyone moved to the edge of the ballroom.
I tried to keep my head low and ignore the sound of dripping blood from Tinaâs torso as we passed. My heart pounded in time with the drums, feeling magic in the air that wasnât mine.
My time was up.
Damien extended his hand to me, a soft look on his face that didnât reach his eyes. I would have slapped his hand away if it hadnât been for Lilith, once again singing her song in a tone that resonated with my soul in time with the music. I tried to resist, but a smile spread across my face despite my internal screams as I took his hand.
Once we reached center stage, Damien pushed me toward the center runes, where several hands reached out to grab me. The hands were rough, binding me quickly before forcing me to my knees in front of a giant black cloth. One they removed, to reveal a very large, very old antique mirror.
Magic was pulsing through the air with a malevolent energy. It fed on their desire, their greed, their death and excitement. Creating a dark, chaotic force that was so suffocating I could hardly breathe.
My body was shaking, either from the intensity of it all or from the sheer exhaustion coursing through my limbs. Damien started to move, raising his arms and mouthing words that were drowned out by the sound of the drums as the magic began to rise. A roar of his coven echoed his words, building into a strange crescendo that seemed to lift itself from the drumbeat.
Wherever he was calling to, my body responded.
âNo!â I screamed, terrified of the energy crackling at the edges of the mirror, feeling power coursing around me.
A dark, black edge spread spider-like over the surface, still moving and warping in time with the drumbeats and chanting. The chanting seemed to rise in excitement, fueling the chaos and magic as everything began to swell, even as I already felt the darkness creeping in. The shimmer of its surface suddenly looked sinister.
The danger was mounting as I squirmed like a frightened mouse, trying to free myself from the circle as Damien focused on the orb, holding onto it with one hand as he began to scream his words. The room started to fill with a darkness so deep it was like ink. Pouring from the mirror as if it were a doorway.
The air was thick with the scent of sulfur and sweat, and a sound I couldnât even begin to describe filled the room. The sound was a cross between a shriek and the grating noise of nails on a chalkboardâsomething entirely inhuman. The drumming and chanting began to fade, replaced by this dark, dangerous noise that filled our senses with its malevolence.
It sucked all those close to the mirror inside, like a vacuum.