Page 125 of Vervain

G4. G4. G4—Wait, no. I need to destroy Mother’s light. I need Serun. I need him.

His blue eyes roll in my direction, and my gaze settles on Jax. His eyes widen, and he pushes off the wall, racing towards me. Adoration is gone, replaced by a determined resolve to reach me before the door closes. I punch in the button for the top floor, and as it closes on him, an earth-shuddering sound comes from the other side. I gasp, choking on my saliva. Clutching my chest, I double over as panic claims me.

“Saya!” he calls, his voice fading as the elevator moves. “Baby, please, talk to me. This isn’t like you! He is controlling you!”

Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Kill Mother’s light. When we do, Serun will come, and we will find Reyes and Cole and leave.

Ignore Jax.

Ignore Jax.

Ignore Jax.

Dragging my fingers through my hair, I expel enough crippling anxiety to nod and accept my driving thoughts. But before I can settle my nerves, the doors open. In the centre of the octagonal room, a crystal hovers within a transparent cube.

I press the emergency stop button on the lift to buy myself time before I step out into the aura of Mother’s burning light.

CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

DEMISE

Saya Claymore

Shards of light flake around the room, and a whirring sound, like a pulse of energy, grips the crystal. This is Mother’s light. A piece of her that’s left, scattered around Naylen—and I am here to kill it.

With every blink, I draw closer until I am in front of the cube. Energy surges from it, and when I lift it away from the crystal, thousands of voices overlap in my head. “Pir avacen. Pir avacen. Pir avacen. Pir avacen. Pir avacen.” Every word drums into my mind, and the sound of energy thrums, whirling around and around, detaching me from my surroundings until it’s just me and the crystal before me.

I lift the cube away from the crystal, and the tough glass clatters to the ground. Then I reach for the crystal, the chanting growing louder, bleeding into my gums. My fingers twitch, so close to grabbing Mother’s light.

“What are you doing here?”

Sucking in a shaky breath, I face the woman in a white coat. Dark eyes look at me, at the crystal, then back at me. She peers at me, as if seeing through my disguise, then reaches into her pocket.

I run at her, and as she takes a small tag from her pocket, I tackle her to the ground. The button flicks open, revealing a knife, and I cry out when it sinks into my arm. She uses her strength, rolling over me, and her hands snap to my throat before I can think. This woman isn’t just a white coat. There is a fighter in those violent dark eyes, and her lip curls with disdain.

I inch towards my dagger as her hands clamp around my windpipe, cutting off my air. I gasp, struggling to draw breath, and my legs thrash out from under me. She’s strong. A slayer? Is she a slayer?

I suck in another breath, the tightness burning. My fingers curl around the hilt, desperate to get a proper grip, when my glamour shatters. Every ounce of magik disappears, and white hair burns down my chest before my blistering eyes.

The woman’s hands slacken, the anger on her face melting into shock. “You are a vegodia—” I plunge the dagger into the side of her neck, my ragged breathing giving way to panic, my chest rising and falling as the blood soaks into my clenched fist.

She collapses beside me and stares vacantly up at the glass-domed ceiling. Once I have enough air in my lungs, I push myself up and stumble towards the crystal. The dagger clatters to the ground from my loosened grip, and I grab each side of the pillar that keeps the crystal hovering.

“I’m sorry, Mother, but my brother is more important than your light.” Before I can regret my actions, before the voices can scream into my mind, and before I stare too long at the nametag: Imogen Hill, I smash the crystal on the ground.

Darkness shrouds the entire world.

Drawing another breath, my stuttering heart stirs at the softness cupping my cheek. Red eyes blaze in the black, and I am no longer so alone. “Serun,” I croak.

“Don’t talk. Your throat is tender.” Delicate fingers brush the spot that stings the most. “I will bite you afterwards. We don’t have time. The slayers will be preparing.” Both hands cup my face, and his mouth brushes mine. “You know that for this to happen, I will have to kill anyone who gets in my path from here to where I suspect the slayers would have taken them.”

I nod and say, “Only the slayers. Don’t kill the humans, especially the children.”

“No more talking.” He crushes his mouth to mine, and when he pulls away, he says, “Let’s find our family. I will return later to eliminate that not-lover of yours for what he fucking did.”

Serun keeps his hand on mine in the dark, and I am guided by his touch. I hand him the tag, and he takes it without a word. It’s hard to breathe. Each inhale stings, like razor blades slicing down my throat. Tears slip down my cheeks, not from sadness but from pain.

We enter the lift, and the lights still seem to be on, so it is only Mother’s light that’s gone. Everything else still functions.