Page 94 of Decoy

This declaration was a step too far in the rebellion against the preying shadows—it was one thing for Luke to seek out a means of breaking away, and quite another for the one with the power to make it happen to possess such a dangerous determination.

If the shadows couldn’t seize hold of the heirloom, then they’d utilize all their power to stop me from using it. The fact that they’d been forced to enter a contract with Luke’s ancestors for the blood they craved meant they couldn’t kill on their own, but it seemed they had power beyond what I’d witnessed Luke borrow for his supernatural feats.

The shadows coiled around me in a suffocating grip to pull me into a deep, black pool. I felt myself submerge, even as I remained aware I was still within the royal treasury. Their dark influence seeped into my mind the deeper I sank, tainting every glimmer of light—the tender moments with my departed family, my hopes for the future and the freedom I fought for, and most of all my budding love for Luke—leaving me with nothing but overwhelming hopelessness, a far more unbearable prison.

They twisted every precious moment until I felt I’d drown. I vaguely felt Luke’s arms bearing me up when my knees gave way and I collapsed onto the floor. Even his comforting presence couldn’t penetrate the cold darkness slowly eclipsing me to swallow me whole.

I was drowning.

As agonizing as losing my life at the end of a rope would be, this despair was far worse than the horrible death I’d imagined countless times. My execution would have brought the end of my life, but this seemed the end of my soul.

After what felt like an eternity lost in this suffocating fog, a single glimmer pinpricked my despair, as if a portion of sunlight had dropped in this endless night. I reached for it, desperate to seize hold of the one thing that could pull me out of this darkness.

Magic quivered against my touch as my fingers grazed it, bringing with it a recollection the shadows had fought to smother. At first it felt as evasive as vapor, but gradually it took form—I couldn’t succumb now, not when I’d finally learned the truth of my past and discovered the purpose that brought my life meaning.

This thought gave me the strength necessary to push away the tendrils coiling my resolve, allowing me to slowly emerge until I broke through my despair just enough to sense Luke beside me, alternating between desperately calling my name and unleashing his fury against the shadows fighting to claim me.

“Let her go! For too long my will along with my family’s have been trapped by your sadistic power, but I refuse to allow you to seize the one thing I’ve chosen for myself.”

His fingers dug into the chains of darkness binding me. At first his grip fumbled as the shadows slipped through his hold, but he gritted his teeth and continued to fight with everything he had.

“I’m your master, and you will obey me. Now unhand her!”

His determination granted him the power to seize control over them rather than remain subjected to their sinister whims, forcing them to yield. I felt this shift in power that allowed him to yank the formless void away to free me. The relief brought by freeing me from the coils of darkness trapping me was instantaneous. My senses returned and I bolted upright with a gasp; I fought for air, feeling as if I’d been submerged and could finally breathe again.

Luke’s relief at this victory was only temporary, for the shadows refused to go down without a fight. Undeterred, he promptly withdrew his dagger with glistening determination and stepped in front of me like a shield.

“Your reign ends now.” And he entered into the shadowy fray.

I’d only seen him fight his father. That had been a graceful waltz with the shadows as his partner; now he fought against the enemy that had once aided him. Naturally, his attacks had no effect on these entities that were without form, but his resolve acted as a weapon of its own, weakening them like any tangible blow.

“I refuse to be trapped within your darkness any longer!” His cry accompanied another swing that made purchase, resulting in an angry hiss from the wounded shadows.

In their growing rage they lengthened before making another assault, but each of Luke’s denouncements against the deceit his life had been built upon and the expectations that held him back for so long gave him the strength to attack the powerful force one by one.

Each fervent demonstration of his determination to create his own future created a glimmer of light that pushed back the dark army threatening us, causing them to gradually thin. But even with his advance there were still too many—for as many as he destroyed, others filled the room as the candles flickered back to life above to create new shadows to join the fight until a vast and seemingly impenetrable obstacle surrounded him.

There was only one way to end this, and that was to unbind Luke’s family from the curse so it no longer had power over him. My grip tightened around the Time Sphere still clutched in my hand. I could use my bloodline’s power to reverse the event that had led to this point, forever freeing Luke from the contract that had resulted in so much suffering to spare both him and the generations to come.

But if I used it now, I’d forever lose my chance to rewrite my own confining past—a different prison than that which had trapped Luke but one nonetheless. Yet the events that had led to this point had allowed me to take the steps necessary to free me from its influence.

My family wouldn’t want me to bear the burden of their mistakes…nor should I continue to carry my own. I have a new life to live.

As much as I loved and missed my family, they were my past that had already held me back for far too long. I had to move forward from what had been in order to claim the promise of the future.

As if my thoughts acted as a key, the Time Sphere began to glow. I stared at it a surprised moment before closing my eyes to envision the moment I’d briefly glimpsed in the vision Luke had witnessed within the forbidden tomes when his ancestor had forged a contract with the shadows. Could I alter it so that such a deadly agreement had never been made?

Changing this moment might never restore the lives that had already been lost, and there was also a possibility it could unravel everything from his family’s past from that point onwards…which meant I might never have met him if he hadn’t had reason to target me. Yet even if it meant I could potentially lose him, if it could create a future free from the blood that would come if the curse continued, then I needed to alter this moment in time, no matter the cost.

I took a wavering breath. “Rewrite the past to free Luke and his family from the shadows’ binds.”

At my commend, a blinding glow emanated from the Time Sphere to fill the chamber to once more bind the shadows’ dark magic within the monarchy’s protection until none of their sinister presence remained. When the last had finally dissipated, the orb grew cool as its light melted away, its magic spent for this generation.

Luke fought for breath as his pallid expression took in the illuminated chamber before his grip on his dagger faltered; it clattered to the floor as he collapsed onto his knees. Instantly I was at his side to wrap my arm around him to keep him upright.

“What happened?” His exhausted gaze took in the dim orb in my hand. “Did you—”

“You needed its power more than I did.”

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