TWENTY-FIVE
Lilith
Pure energy burned through my veins as I stood in the middle of the room with flames licking up my arms and through my hair. I felt like a phoenix rising from the ashes of my old self.
Just the thought of Mystia and her plans to resurrect her coven made fury rage inside me. The blood witch coven was wiped out for a reason, and it wasn’t just about balance. They were twisted, dangerous people. Blood magic fed the darkness within, making them truly evil.
Harnessing that anger, I pushed it out through the room to make sure she was whipped in the face with it as soon as she came in.
I’d been confined in the small room for too fucking long, weak and drained of my power. Mystia would’ve been able to kill me and steal my power in one fell swoop had I not been enlightened to what the bracelet actually was.
But not now.
I was ready to fight my way back to my guys, because if they were in Heaven, it meant they were risking their lives for me and that they were in danger.
Mystia went to drastic lengths to gain my power, so I knew I couldn’t underestimate her like she had underestimated me. I wasn’t sure what I would’ve done if the seers hadn’t made contact with me and taught me the truth about blood magic. I was limitless with this knowledge, which was super fucking cool. But more importantly, I could keep safe and protect the ones I loved.
Forbidden magic was forbidden for a reason, and I was surprised that it was so easy to control. Using it to destroy the bracelet broke every rule I had ever known, but it was also empowering. It set me free of the chains that had shackled me in my previous existence.
I briefly wondered why only blood witches used blood magic if it could be used by anyone, but that thought was cut short when the room around me flickered a couple of times before fading completely, along with everything in it.
White walls turned into crumbling rock while the resin floor turned to dirt beneath my bare feet. Glancing around, I noticed the room we were in was nothing but an illusion. We were in what looked like a cave, but the brightness the room had held didn’t change. Is darkness even a thing in Heaven?
“I’ve been in a cave this entire time?” I crossed my arms, blinking at the witch who stood in front of me with a sadistic grin on her face until she realized the tables had turned.
The color leached from her features as she became the colour of bones. “How are you conjuring hellfire?” Her gaze clung to my bare wrist. “Where is the bracelet?”
Shrugging, I rubbed the soft skin inside the wrist the bracelet had sunk into. “I don’t think it suited me.”
Her eyes narrowed as she took a cautious step back from me. “How did you learn blood magic?”
“Who said I know blood magic?”
“Don’t patronize me, Crimson Demon!” Her voice echoed around the cave as pieces of dirt and rock crumbled down. “Who taught you?”
“I’m resourceful when I need to be.” I outstretched my hand and hellfire burst forth, scorching everything in its path.
She threw herself out of the way, stumbling sideways wildly until she caught herself on the rough wall. Her mouth pursed as she pulled a knife from her sleeve and sliced her palm open.
I threw both hands out and directed the flames toward her, but she smeared a symbol on herself and muttered her intent before the flames reached her and they died out.
In fact, all of my powers had stopped working again. Hellfire, sin manipulation, compulsion, telepathy, all of it. My head throbbed as I tried summoning my powers back.
“You seem panicked,” she said with a booming cackle, gaining back the confidence from our previous meeting. “The Crimson Demon is nothing without her powers.”
Letting out a frustrated breath, I placed my hand on a jagged rock sticking out from the wall and drug it down.
A large gash opened on my palm and blood oozed out in thick, crimson drops. I smacked it on my stomach, staining the white shirt with blood and pushing the intent of neutralizing her spell and any other spell she’d cast on me.
Blood was a prominent part of magic in a lot of different ways, but true blood magic defied all fucking logic. The effects of blood magic were supposed to wear off after the new moon, but Mystia’s magic didn’t fade on the bracelet. If anything, the magic got stronger. I wasn’t completely sure why that was, but I assumed it was because the spell worked more if I believed it, and because I did, the effects strengthened.
“I seem panicked?” I tilted my head, feeling the cut heal up as soon as it hit the shirt. “You seem more panicked than I do.”
She backed away. “What spell did you cast?”
I chuckled, wiping my blood off my hand the best I could before conjuring a ball of flames in my palm. “I neutralized your spell and any other spell you wish to put on me. Which means you can’t control me or seal my powers anymore.”
Clearing her throat she glanced behind her before turning back around to face me, her body trembling. “Who told you about your abilities?”