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Now, Elix watched with a mixture of awe and fear as they stood in that cavern, deep below the earth. The Nameless serpent slithered in the shadows as it spoke to Helia, who, just a moment ago, had offered the creature a trade. Nothing could be seen of the massive serpent but glimpses of its long, limbless body shifting continuously under the blueish glow of bioluminescent insects, its rippling scales gleaming. The cavern was filled with statues of humans, vampires, werewolves, and veneficae—past visitors the monstrous serpent had deemed unworthy of a bargain and turned to stone.
“If I give you access to the prima materia,” the serpent said, its voice ancient and hushed, “you may only use it to create one thing. Do you understand?”
“I understand.” Helia’s words were firm and fearless.
When the snake spoke again, its voice came from somewhere behind them, words skittering like skipped stones across the walls. “What is it that you would like to create?”
Erasmus said, the lenses of his eyeglasses reflecting the bluish tone of the bioluminescence, “When a phoenix dies, it is reborn. It will live forever. We would like to create something that can do the same for people—something that can…remake them. Turn them into something stronger.”
“Only a mortal would wish for such a thing,” the serpent hissed, that horrible voice coming from elsewhere now. “Why would a goddess be willing to trade her powers for a mere mortal?” The question was for Helia.
“I am willing to trade my powers for love,” Helia replied, her strong voice echoing. “Erasmus and Elix are my friends—I would like to give them the gift of eternal life, so that they shall live by my side forever.”
“Very well,” the snake whispered. “You may create a life-granting machine, and in exchange you will give to me your magic, Goddess of Doorways and Passages. You shall give me all of your power, but a drop you may keep for yourself.”
“Thank you.”
“Do not thank me.” The snake’s voice was a hushed whisper that raked up Erasmus’s spine. “All magic comes with a cost—a sacrifice. Every time you use your creation, you must make a trade. Life and death are the natural order of things—one cannot exist without the other. Do you understand?”
“Yes.” Her answer held no uncertainty, but Erasmus and Elix shared a glance, the both of them one step behind their new friend.
“You must choose wisely when you do your bidding,” the snake said. “Every life given will yield different results. Do you wish to continue?”
“Yes.”
“Erasmus—” Elix tried.
“It’s okay,” he whispered back.
The serpent said, “Say it, then. Say it, Goddess of Doorways and Passages, and it shall be done.”
The cavern vanished in a cloud of smoke, and the girl and her dog found themselves back at Angelthene Academy on a brand new day.
And they continued to watch.
Erasmus and Helia befriended a student who spent most of his time alone in the library. This student, like Erasmus, had been bullied nearly all his life. Other students tripped him in the hallways and called him names. If he ever made eye contact with the people who bullied him, they would accuse him of staring, and they would call him a freak. They called him strange. They called him dumb. The bullying eventually became so bad that he stopped wanting to look at anyone at all. He just stared at his books—his only friends.
Until, one day, Erasmus and Helia approached his table in the library, where he sat alone, those books that were his only friends spread before him.
His name was William, and he, like Erasmus, had a brilliant mind. He was part-warlock, part-human.
At first, the girl and her dog thought Erasmus and Helia were kind to reach out a hand to another outcast, someone who was clearly struggling to find his footing in a world that favored immortals.
But it wasn’t long before she understood that the gesture was insincere. And she watched in horror as something that appeared on the surface to be an innocent attempt at friendship spiraled into something sinister.
19
Ardesia
YVESWICH, STATE OF KER
“What’th the path-word?” A young, nasally voice floated through the intercom out front of the gates to Roman’s property.
Darien sat in the car, an arm slung across the open window, fingers drumming the door that was slippery with rain. Pax, having insisted that he should be the one to speak to Kylar’s little brother, stood in front of the intercom, jacket and hair soaked.
Paxton jammed his finger into a button on the pad. “Black Dragon.”
“Wrong!” Eugene’s shout crackled through the speaker.
