“Lex…?”I demand.
She flinches.
“I… I tried to stop her.It’s my fault, if I hadn’t read that stupid book and found that section on sacrifice?—”
My heart plummets.I don’t wait for her to finish; I’m off the platform and running down to the dungeons.My butterfly follows me.Its mismatching wings fluttering in a rapid beat to keep up.It’s magic flows through me, with me.So strange to be connected to a being other than myself.This is nothing like demon magic.
I veer into the dungeon and by the time I reach Ignatius’s cell, I’m hysterical.
I drop to my knees, scooping Midnight into my arms and rocking her lifeless body.
“No, no, no… what did you do.”
The tears come thick and fast.I’m unable to stop them pouring down my face.I can’t breathe.My heart tears in two.Hot, sharp pains slice between my ribs.
My butterfly hovers around my head, fluttering in jerky, broken movements.
“Come back, come back…”
There’s a clank of metal.I freeze.My head snaps to the occupier of the cell and my blood runs not icy, but hard.
“You…” I snarl.“You did this.”
He shakes his head.“I could not.”He holds his hands up in a pathetic shrug as if that eradicates him of any blame.
My skin fizzes and burns as my angelic runes come to life, all of them fully under my control.I ignite, fury pooling in my core.When I hold my hand out, the bars of his prison bend and contort, making a godsawful screeching sound as they crack and snap under the pressure.
Ignatius backs up as far as he can until his chains flex to full extension and he can’t go any further.
“Daughter, please.”
“Don’t.You do not get to call me that.I am not your fucking daughter.”
“Of course you are.I raised you.I made you…”
“Just because you raised me doesn’t mean you’re my father.You’re a pathetic abuser and all you have ever done is seek to control me.”
He shakes his head, the first trembles of his hands giving away the fact he is not as confident as he appears.
“You’re free now… Midnight saw to that.You could leave now.If I mean so little to you, go.We can be done if that’s what you desire.”
The gall of this man.“You’re still making it about you.Still trying to control my actions.You can’t help yourself.But you’re right.I am free.And you will never control me or anyone else again.”
“Please,” he says, sinking to his knees.“Don’t kill me.”
I laugh.It’s a nasty sneer, all jagged around the edges.I almost sound like him.Perhaps I am his daughter after all.
“Kill you?Ignatius, please.I am not that benevolent.You have taken everything from me, controlled me, used me, abused me and now you have taken the love of my life.Death would be far too kind for you.No.I think there’s a punishment far more fitting.”
He hesitates, his brows cinching.
I hold my hand out to the butterfly; she dances through the air and lands on my hand.
“You remember, don’t you?”I say and brush my finger across her wing.
I extend my index finger and slice through the air, cutting the fabric of the Veil.Only this time, it’s not the underworld nor is it the Celestial Realm, but a prison, a purgatory of sorts.
“A prison of your own making…” I say, relishing the way he shakes and edges away from me.
