Theodore quietly chuckled. “I am a celestial event. All of her children are. She’s used our births to move her plans forward for thousands of years.”
“What?” I cocked my head, locking onto Theodore’s hollow blue eyes.
“She’s birthed heroes and villains for centuries, bringing legends into this world all in some pathetic ploy to attain her dream, her vision, of ruling the universe alongside the perfect child.” Theodore flicked his eyes toward the barrier containing his sister. “Tragic Tara was the best she managed.”
Amara continued performing her ritual, retrieving a blade and turning to face Caleb.
The fear lodged in his throat passed to me, locking me in place as I trembled.
With a wicked smile, Amara held the blade out, then turned it back on herself and sliced open her palm. Taking strong strides, her heels clicked against the stone floor as she approached Theodore.
Amara spoke in some twisted language; the words carried a dark echo with them.
When she finished her chant, she slapped her bloody hand against Theodore’s forehead and sent a surge of energy hurling toward the sleeping Gate.
Amara channeled Theodore’s magic as she chanted her ritual. She was really going to do it. Amara was about to open the Gate of Hell itself.
No!
I couldn’t allow this. I couldn’t let her throw Caleb into Hell itself. But I didn’t have the strength to beat her. Not as a manifestation. Even if I left now, no one would get here in time. Not even Gladiatrix or Milo could fly who-the-fuck-even-knew where in a matter of minutes. Seconds, really.
Maybe I could free Caleb, free Tara. Give them a chance to fight back.
No.
Amara had defeated them once before. Now, she’d have demons ushered through the Gate, come to claim their sacrificial prize.
Flames ignited one by one on the rounded pillar of the arch that formed the Gate of Hell. The empty space turned black and murky like a pool of tar. Not like…literally just that. The Gate was made of fiendish demonic energy.
Beasts of all kinds stepped through, twelve in total. They were made of tar, mere silhouettes of demon shapes. Some humanoid, some arachnid-like, others slithering, and one even fluttered a bit as it found its footing on the ground.
“What kind of demons are these?”
“Demon lords,” Theodore whispered, staring inquisitively at their presence. “They’re too powerful to step into this reality. They either need to possess a host immediately or walk in this world as a proxy of themselves.”
The tar bodies. It was the demon equivalent of a manifestation, like how I broke apart my overpowering telepathy.
“Welcome.” Amara curtsied.
The demons knelt or bowed, absorbing the magic in Amara’s words. Their blank faces twisted in on themselves as the tar of their silhouette bodies bubbled.
“It is long overdue, but I have acquired the sacrifice you desire.” Amara pointed at Caleb, who trembled at the sight and power of the demons surrounding him.
This couldn’t happen. I had to stop it. Caleb and Tara’s minds made me shake uncontrollably, barely able to think rationally with their fear consuming me.
“I could help,” Theodore taunted, always screwing with me since the day we met. “If you do the tiniest of favors for me.”
“You can’t stop her,” I snarled. “She’s had you under her control since the day she liberated you.”
“Biding my time, friend.” Theodore smiled, blood trickling down his face, making his expression all the more menacing. “I can spare my siblings Mommy’s fate, but I require something first.”
“What?”
“You.” Theodore’s blue eyes widened. “I want your psychic touch. I want the gentle embrace of another mind against mine.”
The toxic, hollowed-out soul of Theodore’s every exposed thought revealed no deceit. He longed for companionship, craved acceptance beyond everything else. His crew had died, but even when they lived, they only offered a portion of fulfillment. The doctor who groomed him left Theodore longing and lusting for a telepath’s touch.
“I’m not him,” I attempted to explain. “I’m not Dorian. I mean, I am, but only a fraction of myself. I’m a manifestation of my mind. Just a piece broken off from the whole.”
