Page 32 of Darkness and Deceit
I scoff under my breath. “That’s convenient. You get to skip the messy parts of the story that don’t fit your narrative.”
“There are… conflicting accounts,” he says after a pause.
I turn to face him. “Of what?”
“Of what truly happened. Of how it ended.” His expression tightens. “Some say your father destroyed him. Others claim he sealed him. A few believe Magnus went willingly into the void, sacrificing himself to preserve the Balance. The official record was... redacted.”
I blink. “Redacted?”
“By Keeper order,” he replies. “To maintain stability—and to prevent the resurgence of whatever magic Magnus used. The truth, whatever it is, was buried. Hidden from those who might try to exploit it.”
My stomach twists. “So no one actually knows?”
“No one agrees,” he says quietly. “Some records were lost. Others... deliberately erased. And those who might have truly known were either eliminated or vanished before they could speak.”
He pauses, gaze flicking toward me. “There are still those who would love to follow in his footsteps. Rogues. Traitors. Even some within the Balance.”
The more I learn, the less solid the ground feels beneath me. Like I’m chasing ghosts through a story everyone’s too afraid to finish.
As we press deeper into the woods, the trees stretch taller, blotting out the sky. The silence thickens. A curl of nausea twists in my stomach. This place is every nightmare I’ve ever had made real.
And now I’m walking back into it.
With Augustus. Who froze my friends without flinching. Who speaks like emotions are beneath him. Who is, apparently, celibate. What a wild fucking thought.
“Lilith,” Augustus says, suddenly beside me. His voice isn’t soft, but it isn’t sharp either. “You need to ease your mind. Fear interferes with resonance.”
I raise an eyebrow at him. “Are you seriously telling me to calm downagain?”
“I am telling you that I will be beside you the entire time,” he says, and—for once—there’s something like sincerity in his voice. “Keepers are anchors, not obstacles.”
He looks at me, dead-on. Steady. “I will be here. As your guide.”
I want to believe him. Maybe part of me even does.
“Fine. Let’s go,” I mutter.
The forest changes. The canopy above devours the last sliver of sunlight. The shadows press in around us, enveloping us. I let my magic rise, coating my skin like armor. Just in case.
Then I see it.
A light behind me.
I turn.
Augustus is glowing.
Not metaphorically either. Literally glowing.
His skin radiates soft, golden light. It spills outward in pulses, touching trees, ground, branches, and where it touches, the shadows retreat and the forest—this place of fucking nightmares—goes quiet.Calmeven. As if the entire forest is holding its breath for him.
He doesn’t even notice.
It’s like he’s not even trying, and yet somehow, his presence remakes the world around him. The trees shimmer in his glow, softened, transformed.
I finally blink, stepping beside him, shielding my eyes. “Okay, so now I get it. You’re the flashlight.”
“If I could turn it off, believe me, I would,” he replies in his usual flat tone. “This is simply how the Balance manifests through me.”
