Page 48 of The Endless One

There weren’t many people in the room. Sybil had made certain that most of the coven left them alone, so it was now only those who had started off with her. Elric, Sybil, Agnes, and Elissa. The core of their coven, even if some of them didn’t want to be here any longer. Agnes had made that very clear.

They all waited until Jessamine was ready, and she let the story drip from her tongue. As she told it, it was like she was back in that cave. Enduring all of it once more.

Jessamine was suddenly watching as the golden coils wrapped around her arms, turning her face to read the words on the walls. They weren’t spells or anything all that helpful. They were just stories. The tales of so many witches who had come before her, and all those who wanted her to know them.

But then she’d looked at a particular story, and the words had started to change. It had turned into the same word over and over again.

Help.

Help.

Help.

She reached for the word, uncertain of what to do about it. These women had suffered, yes, but they had caused much suffering along the way as well. She’d read about all the spells they had cast, and Jessamine now understood why so many people feared them. The witches had been an intimidating faction who had made the entire kingdom tremble at the thought of what they would do. Surely they had known that would be quick to cause an uprising?

The moment her finger ghosted over the word, though, she had been transported. There was the slight prick of pain throughout her body, likely as it had tensed up, but then she didn’t feel anything at all. She’d been thrust into that realm that she thought only Elric could wander through.

They’d summoned her right to them. She’d expected darkness, but the gravesingers were surrounded by the same golden light that had made up the words.

She wasn’t frightened of what these shadowy figures would do to her, because she could hear them speaking in her head.

They welcomed her. They said they had been watching her for some time, and they were grateful that there was still a gravesinger to bring magic into the world. They told her they had fought Ajax, too, and that he was the most difficult of all the gods to vanquish, because his confidence came from truth. He was powerful. He could hurt anyone, and in doing so, made himself more powerful. She would need help. All the help she could get.

But they also knew that his spell had failed. When she had begged them to take his influence out of her, they had promised there was no hint of Ajax inside of her. Elric was right on that, at least. But they told her that he was wrong in other ways.

She wasn’t herself. She was changing. If they didn’t intervene, then she would continue to change until there was no way for her to go back to who she was before.

Tucking the tails of her blanket tighter around her arms, she looked up at the four people in the room helplessly. “So I told them to help. I don’t know what’s going on inside of me, or how to stop it, but I do know I don’t want to be someone else.”

Elric grabbed the chair in front of her vanity and spun it around. He sat on it backward, his hands dangling off the back as he leaned his chest against the chair. “Did they know what was happening to you or what you would become if they didn’t intervene?”

She shook her head. “They didn’t say, but I’m not sure they would have even if they could. It seemed like they wanted to keep that part a secret, or that they weren’t able to tell me.”

“Rules and more rules,” Elric snarled. “It’s like the witches never want to tell the truth. They want you to learn this for yourself, but they still want to meddle in what might come.”

Agnes snorted from where she leaned against the door. “After all these years, Deathless One, I had thought you would know better than to judge others for their actions. If we judged you for all the things you have done, do you think we ever would have brought you back?”

Elric’s spine stiffened, and he looked over his shoulder at her. “Agnes, we all know the only reason any of you wanted to bring me back was to kill me later. So please, don’t try to tell me you did it out of the kindness of your own heart.”

“And we all know exactly what the gravesingers are suggesting. Jessamine is soon to be lost to us. They know how to stop it. We should let her go back and gather all the information she can out of those who came before.”

Sybil had moved to sit on the bed to Jessamine’s right. Her hands were pressed into the mattress beside her hips, and every muscle in her body was coiled so tightly, it looked like she was waiting to fly forward if anyone needed her to. “They were killing her. I know they said that they weren’t, but they were. I could see what they were doing to her body here. Too much more of it, and she wouldn’t have had a body to go back to.”

“Tsk.” Agnes made the sound so loud it popped in the room. “Rubbish. We all know the Deathless One can resurrect her. How many times has the girl died now? Three? And she’s still walking around with us just fine.”

Jessamine looked at Elric, wondering if he would reveal the truth to the rest of them. It was his choice. He was the one with the ability to bring her back, after all. If he wanted to admit he couldn’t do that anymore, then she wouldn’t stop him.

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “No, I cannot, actually. Ever since Ajax’s spell affected Jessamine, our connection has grown weaker and weaker. I cannot sense her anymore. I’m uncertain that if she died I could find her soul in time.”

Deafening silence was the only answer to his words. All the other witches in the room stared in horror, and Jessamine knew exactly how they were feeling.

It was a tragedy to know she could die. It was even more terrifying than all the other things they had done together. The infected were easily rounded up. The fight with a god? It had been a long shot, anyway.

But they had yet to lose one of their own. And if that person had to be Jessamine… Well, she wasn’t sure they would all continue forward without her help.

She bit her lip, then nodded. “So we get one shot at this. I don’t know if he’ll be able to bring me back, and I’m the only one who can bring him back. Isn’t that what a gravesinger is supposed to be? I’m here to make sure that we can resurrect our god whenever we need him.”

Elissa stepped closer and then reached for Jessamine’s shoulder. She squeezed it tightly. “We won’t let anything happen to you.”