“Magnus was not where I left him,” I said.
“Then let’s just forget about Magnus and perform the ritual without him.” She gripped my shoulder hard. “We do not need that vampire. You even admitted it yourself.”
Ignoring her comment, I asked, “Has Lilith woken yet?”
“Yes,” my aunt replied.
“Where is she?”
I was surprised when Isolde hesitated. “I… I don’t know exactly. Lilith said that she needed more time to recover before the ritual. She left this castle, but she did not tell me where she went. Honestly, I was just relieved that she was not ready to start the ritual.”
This odd behavior from Lilith was further confirmation of my suspicion of Magnus’ whereabouts.
“When will she return?” I asked.
“She left hours ago,” Isolde replied. “She did not specify when she would return, but she said that she was unlikely to be more than a day… but Rhys, let’s forget about—”
“Listen to me,” I said, my voice a growl. “I need you to gather up ten other witches. We need to leave for The Sanctuary.”
“The Sanctuary?”
“The graveyard in The Sanctuary. We both know that Lilith has a second chamber beneath her tomb there that she never allows anyone to enter. I stored Magnus in the werewolf realm, and somehow she managed to find out what I’d done and retrieve him. I believe that she’s been keeping the vampire there all along.”
Isolde’s lips parted as realization dawned on her. “That certainly would explain why Lilith spent so little time in the chamber we had constructed for her… But why would she do this?”
“Why wouldn’t she do this? We both know her love for Magnus. I don’t know how she found out I’d imprisoned him, but I’m not surprised that she took him with her. His proximity must have added to her strength. We have all been surprised at how long she has managed to last. This must be one of the reasons—she has had Magnus so close to her all these years.” I pulled up the sleeve of my shirt and began healing a wound as I spoke quickly. “Lilith only ever surfaced on our side when we needed to speak with her. And she deliberately closed off the portal connecting to the cave whenever she was in her sanctum beneath her grave. We need to reach The Sanctuary and find the vampire.”
Isolde frowned. “What you’re saying makes no sense. If Lilith wanted Magnus to take part in the ritual, she would have said by now. She clearly doesn’t want that. We can’t force her.”
“Of course we can’t force her. All we can do is try to reason with her. But the ritual isn’t why we need to find Magnus any more. Mona is after him.”
Isolde scowled as soon as I spoke the witch’s name. She never had liked Mona even before the witch had betrayed us.
“We must stop her.”
Chapter 21: Mona
I got chills every time I entered The Sanctuary’s graveyard, and this time was no exception. I led everyone straight to the back where the ancient tombs were located until we reached Lilith’s grave.
I turned to Hermia. “Station witches and warlocks around the graveyard to make sure we aren’t disturbed.”
Once she had agreed and left, Rose murmured, “So this is Lilith’s grave,” staring at the ancient tombstone with a mixture of horror and fascination.
I bent down and placed my hands over the stone lid. I’d probably been just feet above Lilith last time I had been here… if I’d just dug past her coffin I might have reached her.
I didn’t waste any more time and forced open the lid. A dark bed of soil lay beneath—the same soil I’d dug up last time I’d been here. Ibrahim and Corrine helped to dig up the earth faster and soon the lid of a mahogany coffin came into view.
I lowered myself into the hole and slid down the side of the casket. I placed my hands underneath its lid, gauging how loose it was. Before lifting it open, I looked up to see Corrine, Ibrahim and Kiev beginning to make their way down after me.
It was cramped enough as it was, so I told them to stay where they were. At least for now, only one person could take this journey. Any more, and we would just attract attention—something we could not afford. None of us would have a chance against her if she decided to wield her magic. I had to see what was down there first.
I popped open the lid. It was still empty. I stripped the coffin of all the fabric and linen that was lining it until I reached the wooden base.
As much as I despised it, I lifted myself into the container. Crouching on all fours, I pressed my ear against the wood, listening for any kind of sound coming from below.
There was nothing. No indication of any life beneath. Just silence.
But I knew better than to give up. Perhaps it was covered over now, but I knew that there was a portal somewhere around here. Lilith had once pulled me through it the same night I’d murdered the Ageless in her sleep.
“What are you doing?” Kiev asked.
I ignored his question. I didn’t know what I was doing.
Using my magic, I drilled a hole through the base of the coffin. It was large enough to put my whole head inside. To my dismay, there was only soil beneath. I began digging deeper into the earth and when I found that I was digging up nothing but more earth, a nagging doubt entered my mind that perhaps I had gotten the wrong end of the stick yet again. But the knowledge that Rhys had headed to The Sanctuary too reminded me that I couldn’t have.
This place must hold the answer.
I spent the next few minutes in silence, ignoring questions called down toward me by Kiev, Derek, Sofia and others. Finally, I reached my first glimmer of hope—a dark, shiny substance. Thick liquid.
I looked back up and nodded at Kiev and the rest of my companions. “I’m onto something now,” I said. “But you must stay up there. No matter what happens, no matter what you think might be happening, don’t come after me. It will only make the situation worse.”
The look on Kiev’s face pained me. I’d given him cause for grief on so many occasions recently, I had lost count. I just hoped that this would be one of the last.
Still using my magic, I expanded the hole in the floor of the coffin enough for my whole body to fit through. I dug away more of the soil underneath until I could slide right through and dip my feet into the glistening substance beneath. But before I lowered myself down, I stripped down to my underwear. I didn’t want to have any extra weight. I remembered how dense that liquid had been.
Casting one last glance upward, I dropped myself down.
I winced as my feet made contact with the substance. It began pulling me downward immediately, like quicksand. It reached my waist, my chest, my neck… I barely had time to utter a spell that would allow me to survive for an extended period of time beneath it before it engulfed me completely.
At first I was pulled down slowly, but then I began to gather speed. After what felt like a minute of sinking, I began to wonder how deep this liquid really was. After three minutes, a fear took hold of me that perhaps the only way to successfully travel along the portal was with Lilith’s permission.
What if this liquid leads nowhere? What if it’s never-ending? Just an abyss of endless slime?
I shook myself. Get a grip. It’s only been a few minutes.
Still, the thought haunted me.
My tension eased only slightly when I realized that the liquid seemed to be getting less thick, and I was beginning to pass through it much faster. It also felt less grainy and abrasive against my skin. Then my feet hit something solid, and my whole body bent as I passed along some kind of rounded tunnel. I emerged against a flat surface. I stretched out my hands to feel around—it felt like stone. I gathered my legs beneath me and kicked up hard—though I was still too afraid to open my eyes in case they stung. Although this liquid felt much lighter, I didn’t know that it was any less toxic.
Only daring to open my eyes once my head poked above the surface, I wiped my face with my hands and looked around.
I was shocked to see that not only wa
s I in water, it was the clearest, most pristine-looking water I had ever seen in my life. It looked purer than even the lakes of The Sanctuary, and there was not a single trace of the dark muck I had just passed through.
I kept my head low as I took in the magnificent chamber I’d emerged in. There was a fragrant smell of incense. Soft light emanated down from the ceiling, and exotic-looking plants and flowers decorated the walls. Lining the floors were luxurious carpets and in the center of the room was an elevated platform upon which stood a large four-poster bed. I almost swallowed my tongue as I realized that I was not alone. I dipped down back into the water as quietly as I could, the vision I had just witnessed etched in my mind’s eye. Although the curtains had been drawn around the bed, they were thin enough for me to make out a man and a woman, wearing nothing but sheets, wrapped in each other’s arms. For a moment I feared that they might have heard me, but they had looked so absorbed in each other, I realized that the fear was likely unfounded.
Lilith.
She had her youthful form back.
I wondered what the meaning of that was. It didn’t take me long to form a theory.
My heart hammered in my chest as I sank down as low in the liquid as I possibly could.
I have to talk to Magnus.
But first, I need to get him on his own.
Chapter 22: Mona
How am I going to do this?
Daring to approach the edge of the pool again, I stole another glance at the bed. The couple still seemed too lost in each other to detect my presence.
Then I looked more closely around the room, racking my brains for ideas. When my gaze fell on a burning pot of frankincense in a far corner of the room, a plan formed all at once. I took a few moments to think it through, wondering if it could really work. It was so risky that it made my stomach flip just thinking about it, but I couldn’t see any other option right now. And there wasn’t time to keep thinking.
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
I rested my eyes once again on the burning pot and stared at it intensely. I repeated a chant in my mind, careful not to let any of the words slip from my mouth. When a small cloud of smoke billowed up from the mouth of the pot, I knew that I’d been successful. The smoke was followed by flames that began to swallow up the pot and climb higher and higher up the walls in the space of a few seconds.
Lilith and the vampire sat up straight and stared at the fire. Draping a sheet over her shoulders, Lilith slid herself off the bed and made her way toward the blaze.
Casting an invisibility spell over myself, I leaped out of the pool and padded silently to the bed. Magnus had his back to me as he sat watching Lilith approach the fire.
It was surreal to be finally standing within a few feet of this vampire we had just traveled through realms to find, only to be unable to say even a word to him.
Tearing my eyes away from Magnus, I hurried to the head of the bed where the pillows were. I spotted what I had been seeking. A short black hair. I hadn’t kept the hair I’d found back in the cave, but even if I had, this one would be more potent. I picked it up and examined it closely, making sure that it couldn’t possibly be from one of Lilith’s strands. Certain that it wasn’t, I clasped it between my fingers before hurrying back toward the pool.
Lilith had now dealt with the fire and was walking back to her lover. I slipped into the water noiselessly and sank beneath the surface, reaching the bottom. I ran my hands along the ground, but this time I kept my eyes open, looking for the entrance to the chute I had traveled through. I spotted a dark hole in one corner. That had to be it. I swam toward it, pulling myself through it.
Now that I no longer had gravity on my side, I needed to use the force of my magic to propel myself upward.
I passed through water for a couple of minutes, then grimaced as it showed its first signs of becoming murky. It wasn’t long before I was wallowing in thick slime again. I couldn’t let up for a moment in pushing myself upward, or I would start sliding downward.
Even though I knew that the grime was thick, I was shocked at how much effort it was. I was beginning to feel tired. I checked the hair in my fingers by squeezing them together several times, worried that I might have lost it on the way. But I hadn’t. I was holding it so hard I was beginning to lose sensation in my fingers.
When my head finally poked above the surface of the liquid, I breathed in deeply.
“Mona.” It was Kiev’s voice, filled with relief. He was standing inside the casket. He reached a hand through the hole and pulled me to my feet. We climbed together out of the grave and onto the grass.
“What happened?” several people asked at once, including my husband.
I didn’t have time to explain now what I had to do. I just had to do it.
“Just wait for me here, okay?” I said.
I caught Kiev’s hand and vanished with him, leaving everyone else behind. Kiev looked utterly confused when we reappeared in the grand spell room within the Adriuses’ castle. I was glad to see that it was empty.
When I walked over to the sink, the first thing I did was wash Magnus’ hair, rinsing off the grime. I placed it down on the table top before proceeding to gather together all the ingredients I needed.
“Are you going to tell me what happened to you?”
“I found both of them down there. Magnus and Lilith. The problem is I can’t get to Magnus while Lilith is there. She knows I betrayed her. One look at me and she could burn me to ashes.”
Kiev stood next to me by the cauldron I had just placed on the stove and was beginning to pile ingredients into.
“So what are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m creating a potion that can make me look like Magnus.”
Kiev’s jaw fell open. I remembered now that Kiev had likely never encountered such a potion. When Sofia had used it to bring reconciliation between Derek and Kiev, she had requested us never to tell Kiev about it and to this day we had honored that request.
“I don’t understand,” he said. “Why?”
“Because we need to separate Magnus from Lilith.”
“But how will this help?”
“I will need either Corrine or Ibrahim to come down to help me. I can’t say exactly how we’ll pull it off now. We need to see what they are doing once we go down again. But the plan is to replace myself with Magnus so she won’t notice that he is gone.”
“Wouldn’t it make more sense if I became Magnus and the two of us went down together?”
My voice caught in my throat. “Kiev, this is so dangerous.”
“All the more reason for me to become Magnus instead of you.”
I realized that Kiev’s suggestion made sense on another level. I knew the most about Lilith’s history with Magnus, more than I could possibly explain in the time we had available. It made sense for someone else to become Magnus, while I attempted to persuade him to help us. Still, I couldn’t help but feel hesitant to agree to Kiev’s proposal. The thought of leaving him down there with the witch chilled me.
“I can’t stand you going down there without me,” he said. “I hate having no idea what’s going on.”
“Okay,” I sighed. “You take this potion instead of me and we will both go down together.”
I still felt conflicted even as I poured the potion into a cup and handed it to him.
“Drink it all,” I said.
Once he’d finished drinking, he said, “Next?”
I walked over to the hair on the tabletop and picked it up.
“Open your mouth,” I said.
He did as I had requested, but before I placed the hair on his tongue, I kissed him.
“I don’t like this,” I breathed.
“We will be doing this together,” he replied, returning my kiss with passion. It seemed that was all the comfort he was going to offer me. Not that there was much more he could say.
I drew away and placed the hair on his tongue.
“Just keep it
there,” I said. “Don’t swallow it.”
I placed my hands either side of his head and began uttering a chant. Once I was finished, I let go and watched him closely for the first signs of transformation. I didn’t have to wait long. His eyes were the first thing to change—they turned from green to blue. Then the rest of his facial features followed—his jaw, nose, forehead—before his limbs adjusted to Magnus’s physique. He was about the same height as Magnus and was also similar in build, so other than his face and hair, not much had changed visibly.
There was no mirror in the spell room so Kiev couldn’t see himself.
“You are Magnus now,” I said, once I was sure his transformation was complete.
He looked down at his clothes. “I’m still wearing my own clothes.”
I shook my head darkly. “You don’t need to worry about clothes.”
He frowned, then looked uncomfortable. Clearly he hadn’t thought this through.
“We will undress you once we get nearer,” I said. I did, however, reach for his hand and remove his ring, tucking it into my pocket. I hated the thought of him alone in bed with that witch, even in the form of Magnus. But we had done this now. There was no time for second thoughts.
“Undress me? Mona… once we arrive, what do I do exactly?” I could detect the nervousness in his deep voice. Something that was unusual for Kiev. He didn’t usually show much emotion.
“We need to first observe the situation as it stands and take things from there… But you’re going to have to avoid talking as much as possible.”
“I’m not touching that hag,” he said, his lip curling with disgust.
Despite the situation, I couldn’t hold back a laugh at Kiev’s reaction. He was still thinking of Lilith as a walking corpse.
“Then you may have to get creative while Magnus and I are gone.”
Chapter 23: Mona
When I arrived back in the graveyard with Kiev, everyone stared at him in shock.