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I sank back onto the couch. I felt another wave of guilt, but I wasn’t sure why. Was it because deep, deep down, I knew I would give him anything he wanted?
If he wanted my blood, it was his.
He merely needed to take it.
“Do you feel stronger?” Narcissa asked. “Do you feel her power?”
“I feel…” Alek went rigid again before standing up and pacing through the cottage.
“What?” I asked, urgently leaning closer.
Narcissa froze. She stood up and walked to Alek, an entirely new look on her face.
“Look at me, boy,” she ordered.
Alek stopped pacing long enough for Narcissa to approach. She reached up and gripped his face tight, her sharp fingernails contrasting against his tanned skin.
“What’s going on?” I demanded.
He froze, breathing quickly through his nose as she held him there. He stood three feet taller than her, but her intensity was strong enough to halt both of us.
And she saw something in him. Something that worried her.
Narcissa sucked in a breath before letting Alek go and taking a few rushed steps away from him. “I should have seen this before. This explains why we could not close the veil before. There is too much lingering here. It’s all so clear now.”
“What?” I asked, feeling like an idiot for having to repeat myself. “What’s clear?”
“All the darkness that seeped from the veil when you opened it, it calls to him. Alek ingests your blood, and his body becomes the beacon.”
“You already told us that,” Alek muttered.
Narcissa glanced between both of us, with nothing but sincerity on her face as she added, “You must be the beacon as we shove the rest of the evil spirits back into the veil. Only then can the veil be closed.”
CHAPTER 27
Alek
It was all my fault.
That much I knew, long before the witch opened her mouth and said it herself. Still, the truth of it hit me in the chest like a punch, sucking the air from my lungs and pulling the blood from my veins.
I swallowed over the newfound lump in my throat. “I’ve been the beacon for evil because of Lyra’s blood? But I haven’t… I haven’t seen anything.”
“You don’t have to see it,” Narcissa replied. Her eyes were fierce. Some part of her that seemed soft and approachable a few moments ago was replaced by these harsh walls of protection.
Against my evil. Against me.
I couldn’t bring myself to look at Lyra again.
“How do we fix it?” I asked numbly. “How do I get rid of this? Of these urges?”
Narcissa lifted her chin, placing both hands on her hips. “The veil did not close before because we have allowed this evil to leak from beyond the veil. We’ll close the veil again, this time while your beacon shines. You’ll drink Lyra’s blood, you’ll pull that dark energy to you, and it will be done.”
“What?” Lyra asked, finally standing up and walking over to us. “You want him to drink my blood while we try to close the veil? Are you sure that’ll work?”
“No,” Narcissa answered quickly. “I can never be sure. But we don’t have many options, child. Alek changed when he came back from beyond the veil, and your blood caused that. It continues to cause that. I’d say this is a safe bet.”
My entire body screamed at me, every single one of my senses locked in on the fact that Lyra’s hand still bled. That she was standing there, just a few feet away from me, with her heart beating and her flesh warm.
