Page 63 of Midnight Reign
“Ah, Mr Sanguine. Nice to see you again.”
Corvus clenches his jaw. “And you, Sir.”
Malachar snickers. It seems wrong coming from such an immensely powerful being. “The merging of realms,” Malachar states simply, going back to the matter at hand. “The NetherRealm seeks to reclaim what was once theirs.”
I shake my head, trying to process this information. “But I don’t understand. What has any of this got to do with me?”
“You are the nexus. The vessel. The conduit. Whatever you want to call it. Crimson may be the queen, but you are the key that unlocks her power in this realm.”
“Fuck that,” I spit out. “I didn’t ask for any of this.”
“Few of us ask for our destinies, child. We merely rise to meet them.”
He says that without anoroption. I’m not impressed.
Zaiah steps forward, his white eyes glowing brighter. “And what about me? Crimson said I was the one to create the bridge. What do you know about that?”
Malachar’s gaze appraises Zaiah. “Ah yes, the djinn. You are indeed crucial to this process. You are not just creating a bridge, young one. You are the bridge itself.”
Zaiah nods slowly. “That’s what I saw, felt. But how?”
“Your unique abilities are no accident,” Malachar explains. “You were born to be a conduit between realms. When the time comes, you will open the pathway for Crimson and her forces to cross over.”
“And if I refuse?” Zaiah challenges.
Malachar’s expression darkens. “Then the merging will happen violently, tearing both realms apart. The choice, as always, is yours.”
I feel sick to my stomach. “This can’t be happening. There has to be another way.”
“There isn’t,” Malachar states firmly. “The wheels are already in motion. You can either guide the process or be crushed beneath it.”
Zephyr steps forward, placing himself between me and his father. “Randall Black already crossed over. Why? How? How did he open that portal if Zaiah wasn’t here?”
“But he was…” Malachar gives me a scrutinising stare that makes me feel a bit ill.
“The bond.”
“Indeed. You are fated to these four creatures, which means your soul is entwined with theirs. It was not only Zaiah, but all of you who allowed Randall to open the portal.”
“Whoa, hang on a fucking minute there,” Corvus snaps. “With all due respect, Sir. We did notallowhim to do anything.”
“Whatever,” Malachar says, waving his hand dismissively. “If none of you had come sniffing around our young nexus here, Randall would have failed.”
“Great!” I snap. “So you’re blaming us?”
“Who else is there to blame?” He shrugs.
Well, I’m fucking stumped.
“Look,” I say, pressing my fingers to my eyes momentarily. “I’m new to all this. If I knew that any of this would happen, I wouldn’t have come here.”
“But you were forced in this direction,” Malachar states. “Your father ensured it.”
“What? No, he gave me a choice?—”
“Did he?” Malachar’s words freeze my blood in my veins. Even as he says it, I see the whole thing replay in my head now.
“Wesley wasn’t an accident,” I whisper, clutching my stomach as the memory of him staking that vampire floods my mind. “Randall set it up. That’s why Wesley drove by when I made it back to Randall. He funnelled me back to Randall, knowing I’d agree to come here.”
