Chapter Thirty Nine: Three Faced Witch

And I pull on the necromancer's mask.

The world, now focused, turns to grey. Around me, my awareness has heightened: black and white with streaks of red, all throughout the distance.

I let out a gasp.

Before me, a red thread binds Nate to the grassy earth.

I check, first, with my mother. Her own red thread, glowing brightly, leaves a glowing trail behind her, fading with distance, but leaving a trace. It's only Nate's, the dead, that has a fixed red thread, its light faded and worn. Instinctively, it feels wrong.

I look down: where was my own thread? I can't see it. But there's a feeling around my neck that I've not felt before, and my hands rise slowly to touch it.

Beneath my fingers, I feel a warm, pulsing thread around my neck.

Necromancer.

Feeling strangely confident, I reach out to Nate's red string. Between my fingers, it's cool and thread-like, contrasting the warm life of my own. I know what to do.

Nate's thread is easy to break.

His face changes, and my heart, for a second, stops. He's gone still. I whip off the mask, terrified that I've done it wrong, that I've accidentally hurt him...

...but then he smiles. The world, no longer grey, bursts into colour.

'I can't feel the pull anymore,' he whispers, his voice joyous. 'Nessie, what did you do? It was like a chain that kept me here. It's gone.'

'Great,' I say cheerily, trying not to show evident relief, 'Well, now that's sorted—'

The air crackles.

Shit is the first word that springs into mind.

When the sky turns black, I start to panic. Darkness, as if the sun had been plucked from the sky, unfurls like a cloak, slamming us all into confusion. From the nearby city, I hear screams and shouts. Nate's face stands out against the sky, shocked and afraid, as lightning flashes behind him.

Then, if possible, he turns paler.

'Ness— she's coming! The one who— the one who— using my body...'

He's jabbering on about something, but then it thunders, a loud growl erupting from the sky that blocks out his words.

'What are you talking ab—' I begin, but I'm cut off by a wall of rain and wind.

The one who used my body. Nate's words take me sharply back to that day— that nightmare— where I had encountered a body of my brother without a soul.

I'd had to decapitate him and shred him to ensure he didn't return.

So, my mother and the Spring Court killed my brother. But now I also know: someone else was responsible for bringing him back.

My knuckles crack instinctively as the sky flickers briefly; a flash of lightning, a rumble of thunder.

Then, there's a fourth figure in this mess.

One second, and it's just a bleary, dark sky. Then, with the white lightning blinding me, a shadow cuts before the light in a humanoid form.

The flickering of the lightning gives the girl an eerie look. She stretches her limbs out, like a preening gazelle. She's oddly beautiful, in a way that reminds me of morbid curiosity; I know she's lethal, but I'm going to stare anyway.

And truly, she's a sight to be stared at. A long, lean, muscular body bound by material that looks like moonlight, and skin the colour of burnt ash. Her lips are darker than her hair, but both silhouette against her body. A silver crown of pale leaves adorns her hair, crossing her forehead.

Her eyes, a sickly green, never leave my face. I see her lips crease; she's angry, or upset, or both. At what, I can't tell— but I must have a part to play in it.

She steps over my mother, still trembling on the floor, with a disgusted look. From Nate's terror at her approach, and my own gut screaming, I know who I'm finally meeting.

'Hecate,' I say.

She dips her head in acknowledgement; her straight, ethereal hair bobs as she does so. Now, a few metres away, she towers above me— and glares down her nose.

Her eyes critique my face, my cheeks, my chin, my hair...they assess it all.

Uncomfortably aware that as we are, all I can do is follow her lead, I offer my hand out. 'My name's Nerissa.'

Well, it breaks the silence.

'What an uncommon name,' the woman purrs, and I'm amazed to see that she smiles at my boldness. When she takes my hand, I gasp.

It's not her strong grip crunching my bones that shocks me. It's the coldness that sweeps through my feet as though I'm drowning, and my gaze instinctively draws to Nate.

Something turns my face back to Hecate.

'Little, sweet, Saint Nerissa,' she continues, and although she lets go of my hand, I find that the freeze continues seeping through my pores, rendering me immobile. All I can do is listen to her oddly nefarious speech. 'My name is Hecate. In all the years that Spring has desperately tried to win our wager, you're their best attempt.'

'Why...thank you?' my mouth forms, trying to sound confident. Privately, I'm wishing I'd listened to my mother a bit more...

...that's something I've never admitted to.

'Don't get ideas. I deliberately said "attempt", because, you've fared no better than the rest. All of you failed.'

'Failed what? Because, I don't care about the whole losing-my-virginity lark. Virginity is a myth, you know. I can't believe you're so hung up on it.' Why am I chattering? Am I scared?

Of course I'm scared.

I'm shit scared.

This woman...this woman controlled Nate. The certainty strikes me so hard I almost yell.

Hecate shrugs. 'It's amazing how well it works in a spell, though. Sex and magic are great components to a curse.'

'So to break a curse, I was supposed to have sex with Hadrian?'

'And in doing so, become eternal Queen of the Underworld. But, essentially, yes.'

I raise a shaky eyebrow. Despite our conversation, Hecate's magic still has me ensnared, and I can feel the ice now chilling my legs, stopping my feet. Even my thudding heart feels to slow with the feeling of cold taking over. 'But...what was my curse?'

'Not your curse, sorry. It's a rather ancient feud between three families, little Juliet,' Hecate murmurs, looking into my eyes. 'I can also qualify as Mother Nature. I can bring in Spring. But I was born of Winter...and that was bad. The Spring Court was no longer needed, and they thought that if Hadrian and I were together...they would become irrelevant entirely. For together, we could banish winter and return it.'

I frown. It sounds similar to the legends I'd researched, but not quite.

'So they sent her in to seduce him. This girl that charmed him and flirted with him and stole his heart from me. On principle, I hated that. I hate to be beaten.' She flashes me a devilish grin. 'So, I cursed them into eternal winter. I took away their precious spring. I cursed Hadrian and his Underworld into barren winter for falling in love with another, when I had stood by his side. I tried to kill Persephone, but her mother was wily enough to place a spell on her. They couldn't defeat my curse, but it meant Persephone's magic didn't die. No, the power of "Spring" was granted to you, little Bride, although I don't know how Demeter did it. Are you Persephone's descendent? Are you her reincarnation? I don't know. I don't actually care. I'm just here to kill you once and for all.'

And the coldness, which has stopped my feet, now stills my blood, and my arms, and my lungs.

Fear and panic rush inside me, but I can't move a muscle. I can't even breathe; my eyes are the last thing that move as they widen and then shut, flinching in fear.

How is she so powerful?

She is a necromancer— like me. I sense that...but...how does she control me?

I try to keep that sphere of awareness open, but it's faltering, closing down with the terror. My head starting to swirl with blackness and asphyxiation, I let my body tune into her magic.

I feel it tightening around my neck.

She's controlling me...as she would the dead. As she did with Nate.

Is this how he felt?

How do I stop her?

Breaking the silence, I hear a familiar voice.

'NERISSA! Nerissa! Get off her!'

A blond haired saviour leaps out at Hecate, distracting her momentarily.

I take a deep, shuddering breath before she bats Mercer out of the way, focussing on me once more.

She has to concentrate a lot to control me. She wasn't like that with Nate, was she?

It's different. I can feel it. There must be a way.

In those seconds, I was able to close my eyes. Now, I let my body feel for the problem, sensing the tightness around my neck...

When Mercer screams and attacks again, I take my chance. The momentary lapse whilst Hecate sweeps him away lets me open my eyes— I see tendrils of black, swirling around my neck, crushing where my red thread lies— and rip the tendrils free.

My legs move again, and I heave heavily. Staggering backwards, I throw on the mask once more, and Hecate's thread is exactly where mine is— around her neck— although hers is black and deadly, and extending towards Mercer.

No! I rush out, pushing them away. Mercer's thread isn't like mine; his takes the shape of a bright, pulsing red over the centre of his chest.

Together, we scramble backwards. Nate's ghost still hovers near us, shouting my name, and Mercer grips my arm.

'That's Genevieve,' he says, numbly, pointing at Hecate. 'Genevieve, why are you hurting Nerissa? Why...why are you...'

'An evil, black-clad, neurotic she-spawn goddess?' I mutter as he trails off. 'Mercer, that's not fucking Genevieve. That's Hecate, and she wants to kill me. And probably you. I'm not entirely sure.'

My guide, as clueless as ever, seems certain about this. 'I know the only girl I ever slept with!' he roars. 'That's my Gen, my girlfriend!'

At last, Hecate snorts. 'I never said I was your girlfriend.' Her voice twitches, mimicking Mercer's tremulous voice. 'We had a few good nights. I made sure you were weak willed as any candidate would be, and then I chose you.'

Hecate's face changes.

Where beautiful, auburn curls had been now sits wiry white hair, and a lined, leathery face. I jump as I remember that cool, cold face, assessing my eligibility to be the Little Saint Bride...

The face of the Head Priestess.

My head swims. How? Surely, Hecate didn't spend her days in a Minoan temple.

The Head Priestess was always rumoured to be mysterious, I realise. She does not show her face, except when the ceremony approaches. And even then, only candidates really see her.

Hecate's face changes rapidly again— this time, she's younger, but with redder hair and deep, burnt umber eyes. A thinner and sharper face, she looks a lot more like the cold and calculating sorceress than the beautiful dark haired version.

Mercer's version— the black hair.

'You lied to the temple,' I say, 'to be able to pick your own candidates? And Mercer...you pretended to be in love with him?'

'And an inexperienced girl,' Hecate laughs. 'I pretended on both accounts. I managed to scope out quite a few potential guides that way.'

Mercer's face drops, and I flush in anger. He'd loved her. 'Why?'

She grins. 'I told you. I hate to lose. There were only a few more Brides to be chosen before I'd win the bet— five hundred years. So, close to the ceremony, I began to kill the ferrymen. Less chance, if you got through, that you'd be able to cross. A shit guide, no ferryman...I wanted to make sure that whoever was chosen wouldn't finish the task...'

She looks me up and down. 'In your case, you were so eager to avenge your darling little brother that I knew you'd have no time for romancing, for winning that throne. And the irony was that the person you wanted to kill was right here.'

She waves her hands theatrically. 'He was so good to control, you know. His soul was so fresh and strong, but entirely malleable. He got stuck, waiting to cross to the Underworld, and my spell plucked him right back out and into my arms. He was such a good boy.'

Next to me, Nate stiffens, his jaw clenching. Anger flares inside me, and I lose sight of that awareness bubble.

I'm the one you wanted all along. That's what she just said.

The real murderers of Nate. Spring for trading our lives, Hecate for pulling back his soul.

Hecate doesn't cry or whine like my mother did. I'm sincerely glad. This woman is a villain I'll love to kill, or die trying.

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Uh-oh! Has Ness bitten off more than she can chew? Are you surprised that Mercer's love was a lie? Where is Hadrian?!

Please tune in to the next chapter, which will be the LAST CHAPTER! It will be an extended, rewritten version to the one originally posted, so look out!

lots of love

Larissa