But I was ready to find out and fucking win this tournament, once and for all.
So, I took in a sharp breath and then climbed each step slowly, and the closer we got, the more it felt as if death was waiting for us behind the narrow door. Still, I continued to lead the women and familiars up the stairs, and no one said a word as we climbed each broken step.
When we finally came to a halt, I looked long and hard at the door, but I couldn’t perceive anything waiting behind it. In fact, it felt like a cold void of pure emptiness.
There was no evil, and there was no good.
There was just absolutely nothing, which felt worse because it meant anything could be behind that door.
“Satan, I’m not sensing anything,” Morgana finally whispered. “Are you, Cole?”
“No,” I answered as I turned around to face the brunette and then shook my head. “I’m not feeling anything, either… but we have no other choice. We have to go through it… so, everyone, pull your wands out and prepare for the worst. Penelope and Beatrix, try to keep yourselves behind the others and me. We’ll use the blood pact to protect you as best as we can.”
Each witch dutifully nodded and then pulled out their wands, so I turned the golden knob and was surprised to see it opened with ease.
Once it was fully open, though, the breath stilled in my lungs as I stared into a massive, jaw-dropping, black and white throne room.
The marble floor was designed in a checkered pattern that resembled a giant chessboard, and there were dark stains of blood in almost every corner. When I craned my neck to look up, the silver-coated ceiling was hovering at least a hundred feet above us, and the walls were made of silver stone with gold edges, but most of them were cracked, uneven, and falling apart. There were hundreds of towering white marble statues all around us, too, and most of them resembled robustly built men with enormous wings. Their eyes were cold and lifeless, and bloodstains poured down their cheeks like rivers of red tears.
“Elder Gods,” Vesta breathed, and her silver eyes widened in horror.
“Satan,” Beatrix panted, and it sounded like she was on the verge of tears. “Where are we?”
Suddenly, I sensed something heavy and menacing behind me, and when I slowly turned around, I saw a majestic, but empty, ivory throne. It was surrounded by looming white columns and made out of pale stone with colorful jewels embedded along the edges. The longer I stared at it, the more foreboding it became. The air was thick with pure malice and hatred, and it was not the kind of darkness I welcomed.
This was a specific abhorrence against my kind, and it was thirsty for Wicca blood.
“Help!” I heard a familiar voice call out. “Please help us!”
“Did you hear that?” Morgana asked as she turned a shade paler.
“Yes,” I breathed, and my stomach sank. “It’s Nyx.”
I spun on my heels and headed in the direction of her voice, and the women followed me until I spotted Nyx and her team. The seven witches were hanging upside down and tied against wooden stakes that were all positioned at the end of the throne room in a straight line. They were all wearing long, tattered white dresses instead of their usual uniforms, and my heart began to hammer violently in my chest as I gazed at the helpless women.
I had seen this image before in mortal memories and in my textbooks.
Someone was preparing to burn them all, from their heads up to their toes, and if we didn’t do something quick, they would perish as soon as the flames sprouted from beneath them.
Then it was as if some other entity was listening to my inner thoughts because small flames burst from beneath the witches’ heads, and the blaze was already nearly touching the ends of their hair.
I tried to use the motus incantation to control the fire, but strangely, it didn’t seem to be working.
“Help!” the women screamed through panicked tears. “Please, do something!”
“Cole, we have to help them,” Vesta gasped as she grabbed my sleeve.
“I know,” I replied in a rushed voice.
I took a step closer toward the women, but as soon as I did, one of the marble, checkered floor pieces sunk a little deeper into the ground. For a second, I thought I was going to fall through some kind of trapdoor, but all it did was wedge itself further into the floor.
“Don’t just stand there,” Nyx wailed as tears spilled out from her eyes. “Get us out of here! Please, Cole!”
I wanted to help her, but I had to be careful and smart about how I was going to do it.
As I wracked my brain for an idea, though, Faye took a step closer toward the women. Her foot sank down into the floor, and the marble tile descended lower, and for a moment, I thought she was going to fall back from the sudden motion.
Then, as soon as the tile moved, the flames began to rise a little higher.
“What the hell?” the redhead screamed. “The floor moved!”
“I know,” I whispered. “I think it’s rigged… we can’t get to them by crossing the floor… wait, I have an idea!”
As the words left my lips, the flames grew a little taller, and now they were just inches away from burning off the ends of the women’s long hair.
“Nooooo!” Nyx screamed, and she struggled frantically against her bindings. “Please, Cole, do something!”
I turned to Alexander as he hovered in the air and then beckoned for him to come closer. He flew above me with his massive, bat-like wings and bright red eyes, and we didn’t need to exchange words to know what I was planning. So, I just reached out to touch his head and then closed my eyes.
“Corporis nexum,” I whispered.
I felt my consciousness transfer into Alexander’s body, and when the view of the world changed, I quickly flew toward the Vipera witches. I neared Nyx and tried to use Alexander’s teeth to rip the rope apart, but then something sharp and hot hit me in my side, and I went crashing down to the marble floor.
“Cole!” the women screamed.
Hot blood trickled down my side, and as I tried to swiftly recuperate, I heard a deep cackle of laughter. I looked up to see Lex standing behind the Scholomance women, and he was surrounded by his teammates and their loyal familiars. The white, feral feline licked her lips as she stared at me, and then she hunched her back as if she were preparing to charge. Her golden eyes bored into mine as she stared patiently at me, and I forced myself to limply fly back into the air.
“Nice shot, Lex,” his redheaded counterpart with pale skin and vivid orange eyes said.
“Thank you.” The blond warlock grinned. “Gods, I’ve been waiting to do that for a long time.”
Anger coursed through my veins as I looked at the snickering warlock, and the sound of his cocksure laughter made me want to stab him in the heart with a dagger. He was worse than Malcolm or Bram because the fucker actually had patience. He’d waited until now to show his true colors, but it didn’t matter.
He had picked the wrong man to fuck with.
Are you alright, Cole? Alexander asked weakly in my mind.
Yes… I replied. Don’t worry about me… it was just a basic attack spell… we’ll be fine, just keep your eyes peeled.
You’re right, Alexander responded, and I could already hear the strength returning to his voice. Nothing but a flesh wound… let’s kill this fucker.
“What do you say, Valentina?” Lex drawled as he slowly patted his lioness on the head. “Are you craving bitch meat?”
“You son of a fucking whore,” Akira growled as she faced off with the warlock. “I knew you were up to something.”
“You’re not going to get away with this,” Morgana sneered as she aimed her wand higher into the air.
“Aren’t I?” Lex snickered, and he gestured around the room. “You and the rest of your school are as good as dead.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Vesta demanded as her silver snake twined around and around her neck in a hypnotic gesture.
“As we speak,” Lex said with
a bloodthirsty, crazed grin, “Scholomance is burning to the ground.”
“I don’t believe you,” Faye snarled.
Before Lex could respond, one of the Vipera women screamed, and when I turned around, I saw the flames were dangerously close to reaching a blonde witch’s locks. I tried to fly toward her, but then something pulled me back and tugged at my wings, like a pair of vicious invisible hands.
Again, I was thrown backward and landed with a hard thump on the floor. I looked back at Lex as he flicked his wand in the air, and when I snapped my neck to look back at the Vipera women, their mouths were sewn shut. The flames were not yet touching them, but they were too damn close for my liking.
I knew I needed to take care of Lex and his teammates before I could save them, but I had to be quick.
So, I forced myself to fly upward, and then I hovered directly in front of my Scholomance team and silently dared Lex to make a move against me.
If he wanted to play chess, then check-fucking-mate.
“Feeling brave, are we, Cole?” Lex drawled as if he could read my mind. “Valentina, kill him… and as for the rest of you… we’re going to make your deaths as slow and as painful as possible.”
“I fucking doubt that,” Akira growled as her black eyes darkened with determination. “Volant!”
As soon as the short-haired witch cast her spell, all hell broke loose between the two teams. They shot spell after spell at one another, and statues and glass shattered as incantations blasted throughout the room like a colorful and violent storm.
As the teams focused on destroying one another, the lioness pounced forward, but before she could attack me, I swerved toward her and then used my bladed wing to quickly jab at her hide. Maybe it was because of my connection with Alexander, but I sensed a feral instinct take over my entire body, and all I wanted to do was fight against this asshole’s familiar, animal against animal. I knew Alexander felt the same way, because I could feel his own rage coursing through my veins as we fought together.
As I stabbed the ferocious familiar, she cried out in pain as the sharp edge of my wing carved into her fur like a hot knife through butter, and then she swung a massive paw in my direction in retaliation. She nearly sliced me open, and she growled in irritation when she missed.
The two teams screamed and shot spells at one another as I fought against the unwavering lioness, and I was doing my best to not only dodge the bloodthirsty beast, but also to avoid any lethal spells aimed at me. I veered quickly in the air as she tried to bat me with her paw, and she growled as I stabbed her again with my wing. When I retracted the honed blade, blood gushed out from her open wound like a red fountain. Her fur was now matted with dark blood, and both bone and muscle were exposed, which I knew meant she wouldn’t last much longer. She roared in pain, and then, with little patience left, she quickly lunged into the air with her claws extended. Her chest was finally exposed, and I knew this was the only opportunity I'd get to finish her off once and for all.
So, I flew toward the beast, and with my bladed wing, I stabbed her quickly but fiercely in the heart. She roared one last time before she collapsed onto the marble floor, and then dark blood pooled around her limp body.
“No!” Lex cried out, and his eyes were dark and furious as they snapped to mine. “Gods damn you, I’m going to kill you, myself.”
Come on and try it, you elder god worshipping fucker, I growled in my head.
Let’s fuck him up, Cole, Alexander added.
Like the coward he was, the pale warlock rushed over and tried to attack my unconscious human body with his bare hands. The women tried to aim their wands at him, but some other force yanked their weapons out from their hands.
I managed to pull myself out of Alexander just before the spineless warlock could reach me, but when I returned to my body, he leaped on top of me, and I was shoved harshly into the cold stone ground.
“Fucker,” I gasped as pain bloomed in my chest.
Lex tried to wrap his hands around my neck, but I brought my knee up and kicked him in the ribs. He coughed and jerked back from the sudden blow, and I took the opportunity to punch him in the jaw. I hit him with all my strength, and when his head snapped to the right, he spat out blood and teeth. I couldn’t let him regain his bearings, so I grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him off me, and he limply collapsed to the side. Then I reached behind my back to pull out my dagger instead of my wand. I wanted to see him bleed, but suddenly the weapon flew from my grasp and scattered across the marble floor.
When I looked up to see which warlock had interfered, my eyes landed on something, or rather, someone else entirely.
Before us, sitting on the throne, was a gorgeous woman with the longest and palest hair I’d ever seen. She was wearing a simple white gown with a glittering diamond necklace around her elongated neck. Her eyes were cat-like, wide and vigilant, and her full red lips curved into a deliciously wicked smile as she stared down at us. There was bitter amusement twinkling in her bright blue eyes before she slowly raised her pale hands and clapped.
“How lovely,” her familiar voice echoed. It was the woman who had spoken to us in the royal mine. The bitch had been watching us the entire time. “I do love a good battle… reminds me of the gladiatorial days.”
Then she gracefully stood up, and my mouth dropped open as massive dove-white wings sprouted out from her back. When she flapped them, a giant gust of air sent the Scholomance witches flying back into the air, and they all screamed as they went soaring toward the other witches.
“You fucking bitch,” I growled, and hot, boiling anger coursed through my body. “Who the hell are you?”
“I’m the master of this palace” the angelic woman hissed as her bright eyes glowed with anger. “How dare you speak to me in such a manner, you filthy Wicca.”
“I will gladly punish him, my queen,” Lex mumbled through broken teeth as he pulled himself up from the ground.
“You?” she challenged with an arched eyebrow. “You couldn’t even throw one decent hit. You are completely useless.”
“Please,” the warlock begged, and he dropped to his knees and bowed his head in a disgusting show of weakness. “Let me prove my worth.”
The woman stared long and hard at the groveling warlock, and then her red mouth curled up into a small smile. Whoever, or whatever, she was, it was clear Lex would die a thousand times for her.
“So be it,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand.
Then she flicked her wrist, and a grand army of skeletal soldiers emerged out from the walls like a militia of ghosts come to life. Their bodies were made of bones, they had large, golden wings transporting them swiftly toward us, and they carried hefty gold and silver weapons with them as they sang a chorus of battle cries.
The goddess then waved her pale hand once more, and when I turned around, I saw my team frozen in place like a group of marble statues, and my blood turned to ice when I realized they were unable to fight.
I knew we were outnumbered, and my heart skipped when I realized I either had to figure out how to free my immortal coven, or I’d have to destroy hundreds of skeletons, and these warlock traitors, all by myself.
Both paths seemed impossible.
Chapter 21
The goddess-like woman sharply grinned in my direction as the undead army gradually homed in on me, and her giggles echoed like a thunderstorm as Lex and his teammates took long strides toward me. They were all smirking from ear to ear as if the battle had already been won. The odds certainly weren’t in my favor, but I’d be damned if I didn’t go out without a fucking fight.
As I stood tall and unwavering, I took a moment to glance back at the helpless women. My own team was still frozen in place, and their beautiful faces looked as if they were made out of ice. It almost appeared as if their eyes were devoid of any life while their horrified expressions were paralyzed like stone, and it pained me to see them under an elder goddess’ power. The Vipera women were in an even worse
position, just inches away from a flaming death, and they couldn’t even scream as the flames drew closer and closer.
I knew time was of the essence, and it was up to me to save all their lives while keeping my own.
But how the hell was I going to accomplish this?
My thoughts were rapidly firing like a whirlwind of chaos, until a familiar and calming voice broke through the madness.
You can defeat her, Cole, the dark-haired woman’s voice whispered inside my head. She may be a powerful elder goddess, but you are greatness and evil reborn. Let go and become the man you were born to be. You have more power than all of them. You are an agent of the all-powerful Satan.
I nodded and took a step closer to my foes, and I knew I must have looked like a madman leisurely walking to his own death, but I didn’t care.
I could fucking do this.
As I drew closer, the white woman raised her hand, and then each skeleton soldier stopped in its tracks. Lex and his team also came to an abrupt halt, and then the beautiful but deadly creature stood up from her throne.
“You possess courage,” she purred as her blue eyes twinkled with malice and mischief. “I respect that… perhaps I’ll even give you a chance to join me?”
“But, Your Majesty--” interjected one of the warlocks until she flicked her wrist, and then his neck snapped.
The warlock fell dead to the floor, and not one of his counterparts even bothered to look down at his limp body.
One down, six left to go.
“As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted,” the woman continued, “you do not need to remain bonded to the Wicca way of life. Or the foolish Satanists. Join us, and you can become even more powerful than you ever imagined.”
“Thanks, lady,” I replied with a deep chuckle, “but there’s no chance in fucking hell. So, why don’t we skip the foreplay and fuck already?”
Her gorgeous face darkened, and then she bit down on her lip before she responded.
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