When I stir awake, there’s a chill in the air. I open my eyes, realizing there are two major things wrong.
One: I was in one of Alora’s chambers, and I had a fire going. Now, whether it’s still going or not, there should be heat in my room, but there isn’t.
Two: I don’t remember falling asleep. In fact, I hardly ever sleep, which tells me something is seriously wrong.
I snatch my gun from beneath the pillow and turn over in the bed, but when I look up, there are trees above me, tall, with branches that seem to stretch for miles. Their ends are spiky, snow capping the thicker branches.
When I breathe, tufts of my breath linger, and I sit up on the bed, looking around me. I’m in a forest—a cold, dark, empty forest. Nothing is here but me and the bed from Alora’s. I’m shirtless, and when I look down, black veins are spread over my body, long and disorderly.
Then there’s a deep, wicked laugh that I hear in the hollows of my mind. I climb off the bed, my gun already aimed, but at what, I’m not sure.
“Who’s there?” I call. I spin around when I hear leaves rustle behind me, a twig snapping.
“Show yourself,” I demand.
“The Council has told you the truth. They’re leading you to Selah. This is not a good thing for me.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You awake Selah, and you slip out of my grasp. I’ve worked much too hard to let that happen.”
I clench my jaw, trying to find the voice. I can’t find it. It seems to be everywhere, echoing all around me. Then I feel something hit me from behind. A blur of black swoops past as I land on the ground, and then it’s gone.
“You’re a coward,” I grumble.
“Am I the coward, or are you? Hiding behind your guns. Pleading with a hunk of metal to take your life. Let me guess, you’ve had a taste of your mate and don’t feel that way anymore. Now you feel like you must live for her, forever and ever. How romantic.”
I push to a stand again, dirt wedging between my fingers and toes. “Stop hiding and show yourself!”
“If I do that, there will be no turning back.”
A branch snaps. The wings of a bird flap. I spin around when I hear another snap, pointing my gun ahead. A dark figure walks through a line of trees. At first, I can’t see it well. It’s too dark, too far, but the closer it gets, the temperature drops around me, and the colder I become.
When it steps into the light, my eyes widen because I can’t believe it. I lower my gun, staring at the figure that smiles back at me, speechless. It wears a sly smile, it’s eyes dark like coals. It’s shirtless, just like me. In fact, it is me…
Only its skin is gray. And when it smiles, it’s teeth are sharp, like daggers. Black veins canvas his body, just like mine, and when he cocks his head, my heart drops.
“You want to kill yourself so badly, well go ahead then,” the other me says.
It steps closer, and I lift my gun in the air again. “One more step and I’ll blow your fucking head off.”
It steps forward anyway. I pull the trigger. The bullet pierces it in the chest. It doesn’t flinch, nor does it bleed.
“Another step, and it’s your head.”
It steps.
I shoot a bullet through its forehead.
It collapses on its back, and I draw in a breath, staring at the body as it lies on the ground. But it doesn’t lie there for long. It begins to shake, as if having a seizure, and then the body shoots from the ground to the sky. It floats there, eyes red like hot coals, teeth bared, talons out, staring down at me.
“Did that satisfy you?” it screeches.
I raise my gun, shoot at it, but the bullet passes right through it, like it’s a ghost.
“This,” it moans, sneering. “Will satisfy me.”
It flies toward me, knocking me into the nearest tree. All the wind leaves my body as the bark scratches my back before I crumple to the ground. When I look up, the figure is floating above me.
Caz! Wake up, please! Willow’s voice rings in my head.
“Willow!” I shout, my voice cracking. “Willow, can you hear me?”
“She can’t hear you.” The figure drops to the ground. “She’ll never hear you again, I’m afraid.”
I expect to see that wicked version of myself staring back. Instead, I see the face of someone I know. Someone I trust…or so I thought.
“Oh, Caspian,” Manx sighs, and my heart drops to my stomach. “You were so close.”
“Why?” I croak. “Manx, how could you?”
“You shouldn’t trust everything a Mythic gives you.”
What? I stare at him until a realization dawns on me. Something Calista said rings loudly in my head: Nothing can breakthrough this bubble of our energy unless you allow it.
Unless you allow it. I allowed this. The protection morsels he gave me in Luxor…I ate one at Alora’s palace and even gave one to Willow. What he gave us, it wasn’t to protect us. It was to break through The Council’s protection. Fuck. I let him right in to sabotage us.
“I tried to resist, I really did,” Manx goes on. “But you must understand, Caspian. This hunger has become unbearable for me, and the moment you fell for her, the scent of your Tether grew even sweeter. I could only resist for so long. Now that I know you were going to wake Selah, well, it’s best I get this over with now. No use in prolonging the inevitable.”
“You fucking backstabber,” I growl through clenched teeth.
“Don’t worry,” he murmurs, stepping closer and clasping my head in his hands. “I like you, so I’ll make this quick.”
Those are the last words I hear before my body is chained in ice and my vision turns black.
