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“Hello, Daughter.”
Chapter 60
- Elyse -
Those words.
They were the words that haunted her nightmares, that made her want to tear her own flesh from her body. And Lazarus knew it.
He was taunting her, as he had done so many times. Yet hearing him call her daughter, seeing the words roll off human lips instead of the hollow jaws of a skull… She trembled with both rage and fear as she waited for whatever was to come.
Lazarus rose to his feet slowly, as if savoring the taste of the earth, the wind, the despair around him. His chest expanded, shoulders rolling back as he inhaled the crisp forest air. He let out a blissful sigh, a smirk tickling his lips.
Elyse watched, trembling. Though Lazarus wore Ymaritis’s body, there was a hellish aura to him. He appeared taller, as eminent and ancient as the trees surrounding him. His movements were sharper, made vivid by the contrast of darkness that seemed to swallow the air around him.
Her eyes flickered to Killian and Jaime. They still knelt, arms bound, the daggers now half an inch into each of their chests. But they were still alive, which counted for something. If she could find a way to outsmart Lazarus, maybe she could save them.
Lazarus followed her gaze to her friends, eyes narrowed with distaste, before he slowly turned back to her.
“Thank you for all of your help, Daughter. So many years of service. It has not gone unnoticed. As a display of my gratitude, my ability to show mercy, I will make you an offer.”
She blinked, and he was gone. She couldn’t see him behind her, but his presence was undeniable, confirmed by icy hands that caressed her wrists. Her body went rigid, fear ricocheting through her, immobilizing her.
Using his hands instead of magic, Lazarus began untying her bindings. As the rope slackened, the grip on her lungs tightened. The ropes fell to the ground, a whisper against the grass, and Elyse turned to look up at her enslaver.
“Join me,” he commanded, extending his hand. His voice was low, yet it still bellowed through the forest. “Join me in wreaking havoc on this land. All will know our names, and all will fear us. I will show you power you could never imagine.” His eyes—Ymaritis’s blue and silver eyes—sparkled with insatiable bloodlust. “Join me, and I will let them live.”
Her head snapped toward Killian, to the dagger drawing a slow river of blood. He didn’t need to speak for her to know what he was thinking. His expression begged her—Please, Elyse. Do not do this.
Even Jaime, panting and coated in sweat, silently pleaded with her not to give in.
Her mouth opened, and she almost said, “Yes.” She almost agreed—would have agreed to anything if it meant saving Killian. Yet her throat refused to emit a sound as images of charred corpses lying in the street touched her mind. The hundreds of ruined bodies of Prestowne, lives ended tragically. Her own hands coated in blood, evidence of the deaths she’d caused. A smiling, curly-haired girl with a future ahead of her, gone in an act of violence.
If that was what Lazarus was capable of as a demon confined to Hell, what worse devastation would he inflict now that he was on earth? She would not stand beside him, enabling him to terrorize the kingdom.
Yet Killian deserved more. He deserved life, and happiness, and salvation. Jaime, who had stood beside her at her darkest time, deserved more. They deserved to live.
“I’ll do it,” she uttered, voice limned in calamity. She would join Lazarus, she would bide her time, and she would betray him.
“Elyse!” Killian’s cry cleaved the forest in two, echoing off the distant ridge and reverberating back to her in haunting waves.
She looked to him, subtly lifting her chin. I love you, she tried to say. I would do anything for you.
Lazarus’s smile brightened—so different from Ymaritis’s, and yet born of the same wickedness. “You have lied to these men so much,” he said, taking a step closer to her. “You have hidden your true self from them again and again, betraying their faith.”
He now stood mere inches from her. Elyse had to crane her neck to look up at him, her heart hammering with determination and regret. He lifted a hand, tucking a strand of tangled hair behind her ear, and leaned closer.
“But you could never hide your true intentions from me.”
Before the words could even penetrate her mind, shouts shattered the small clearing. Killian and Jaime both knelt on the ground, though their hands were freed, and the daggers were gone. Their faces were pale, fright making their movements staccato, though Elyse didn’t know why.
She realized it then, in a moment of panic. They weren’t kneeling, the earth had swallowed their feet and calves and was now slowly devouring their knees. Killian’s fingers dug into the dirt as he tried to keep himself anchored aboveground, his face contorted with the effort. Slowly, he and Jaime sank deeper into the soil.
Elyse sent a blast of green light at them, a spell meant to clear away the ground that enveloped their legs. The green light hit an invisible wall and disseminated upward and outward, unable to reach them.
“No!” She hurled her hands forward, again and again, but each time that invisible wall arrested her spells.
The earth was now as far as their thighs, creeping closer to their hips. Both men clawed at the ground with panicked hands. Desperately, Elyse ran toward them but slammed into the wall of hard air. She pounded her fists against it, willing the wall to shatter and let her in.
