Page 75 of Necromance
It wasn’t Serena on the floor. It was Mia.
Her auburn hair spilled across the stones like bloodied silk, her body was limp, her skin was pale, lips parted slightly like she’d wanted to scream.
I rushed to her side, falling to my knees, the dagger clattering beside her body.
“No…” I choked on a sob as I pulled her lifeless body into my lap, pressing her face against my chest and burying mine in her hair.
“Mia,” I whispered, my voice breaking.
Serena slithered behind me. “She never left, Lucien. The little fool tried to stay to save you, but I warned you.”
She moved around us, circling us like prey, but I barely noticed, barely heard her voice as she continued.
“She is weak though. Her magic is a plague that eats her until her body is ripe for the taking”
She leaned close to my ear then. “She was such a convenient vessel.”
“You possessed her?” I demanded, my voice strained, my whole body trembling with grief and fury.
Her laughter echoed through the crypt. “You thought I was foolish enough to believe you would destroy your body? Oh Lucien, you are the one who is a fool. You played right into my hands.”
I clutched Mia to my chest, pressing a kiss against her temple, rage surging through my undead veins until my vision began to cloud.
Gently, I laid Mia back against the cold stone floor and then I moved.
Serena had no time to react, no time to see my fingers grip the dagger, no time to move before I plunged it into her heart.
The blade sank in and Serena screamed, her throat tight with fear and agony.
This time it was her that crumpled to the floor, her that stared in disbelief as the magic in Mia’s blade consumed her. Her flesh rotted away, decay and death replacing it until there was nothing left of her, but a whisper of black smoke.
I dropped to my knees beside Mia again, my hands trembling as I gatheredher into my arms.
She wasn’t breathing.
Her body was warm, but slack. Her head lolled against my shoulder, deep red hair tangled, lips still parted.
My chest cracked open.
I pressed my forehead to hers, rocking slightly as tears slipped down my cheek. “Please, Mia… Please wake up. I didn’t know. I didn’t…”
The truth scalded me. I had planned to kill Serena. I had planned to protect Mia by sending her away, but instead… she had taken Mia’s body and I hadn’t seen it. I hadn’t seen her. I had plunged the dagger into the woman that I loved.
I wanted to die. I deserved to die.
My hand reached blindly for the blade, fingers curling around the hilt.
If she was gone, I would go too. I would follow her into the dark. Into the void… wherever she was, I would find her.
My grip tightened around the dagger as I pressed one last kiss to Mia’s forehead…
But then something caught my eye.
A faint glow.
I looked down, shifting her in my arms. Her locket–the one with a piece of her soul meant for me–was glowing.
Pale gold and blue light pulsed from within it, slow and steady, like a heartbeat.
