Page 106 of Crossing Between
"Welcome home, sister," Ryan's adult voice called from everywhere and nowhere. "I've been so looking forward to this family reunion."
Chapter 57: Zoey
The world around us twisted violently. One moment, we were standing in the distorted church, and the next, black soulfire erupted from the walls, engulfing everything. The flames didn't burn, they froze, sending icy tendrils of dread through my body.
"Get back!" I screamed, but my voice was swallowed by the roar of magic.
Reality warped again, the church dissolving like melting wax. The wooden floors beneath our feet softened, becoming something organic?
I stumbled as the ground pulsed beneath me, a wet, sickening sound filling the air with each throb.
"What the fuck?" I gasped, looking down to see what appeared to be muscle tissue, glistening with fluids and blood, expanding and contracting beneath my feet.
We were inside something alive, something so vast and wrong. The walls around us were no longer walls but membranes, pulsing with an unnatural rhythm. Veins of black ichor ran through them, pumping corruption through this massive, livingchamber.
"It's like we're inside a heart," Elias's voice was tight with disgust. "A corrupted heart."
The center of the chamber bulged, the tissue parting like lips to reveal a figure rising from within. My breath caught in my throat as I recognized my brother's form, but only partially. This was Ryan, yet not Ryan, a horrifying blend of my brother and something inhuman.
The left side of his face was still my brother's, those familiar eyes, the strong jawline, the dimple in his cheek when he smiled. But God, the right side was something from a nightmare. Charred, blackened bone where skin should be, the eye socket empty save for a pulsing orb of malevolent energy. His mouth stretched too wide on that side, revealing rows of dagger-like teeth that no human mouth should contain. Where his right arm should be, a massive, draconic limb extended, ending in talons that dripped with the same black ichor that ran through the walls.
"Ryan?" I whispered, my voice breaking.
The creature, the Essencefeaster wearing my brother's face, smiled, and it was the most terrible thing I'd ever seen.
"Hello, sister dear," his voice was a dissonant blend of Ryan's familiar tenor and something ancient and ravenous. "Did you bring friends to dinner?"
"Ryan," I tried again, desperately searching for any sign of my brother in those mismatched eyes. "This isn't you. Fight it!"
The Essencefeaster laughed, the sound resonating painfully in my chest. "Oh, Z, always trying to fix everything. Always trying to save everyone." He tilted his head, studying me with predatory interest. "Did you think I wouldn't feel it when you bound yourself to them? I felt it, Z. Like being cut in half."
He took a step closer, the floor rippling beneath him like disturbed water. I felt Varon, Elias, and Kenji shift into defensive positionsaround me.
"You were supposed to be mine," Ryan, no, the Essencefeaster, hissed. "My other half. My power source." His human eye narrowed in accusation. "But you gave yourself to them instead."
"I didn't know," I whispered, my magic stirring beneath my skin, responding to the threat. "I didn't know you needed me."
"Liar!" he roared, and the entire chamber shuddered with his rage. "You always knew we were different! Special! You just chose them instead of your own blood!"
I felt a sudden pressure in my mind, like invisible fingers probing at the edges of my consciousness. The sensation was horrific, intimate and violating at once. I staggered, clutching at my head.
"Get out of my head!" I screamed, panic rising as I felt him trying to seize control.
"I'm already in your head, sister. I always have been." His voice came from inside my mind now, oily and insidious. "We're connected. Two halves of the same soul."
The pressure increased, and I fell to my knees, the pain blinding. Dimly, I was aware of my companions shouting, of movement around me, but I couldn't focus on anything beyond the battle raging in my mind.
Through the haze of pain, I felt the phoenix gloves warm against my skin, their protective magic creating a barrier between my mind and the Essencefeaster's invasion. The pressure receded slightly, but I could still feel him there, waiting, probing for weakness.
"You're fighting a losing battle," he taunted. "I'll have you in the end."
I struggled to my feet, pouring every ounce of my concentration into maintaining the mental shield. It left me little capacity to do anything else, all my magical energy was devoted to keeping him outof my head.
The Essencefeaster must have sensed my vulnerability. With a snarl of rage, he launched himself at me. A sphere of writhing shadows formed in the creature's draconic hand, expanding rapidly before he hurled it directly at me.
"No!" Kenji roared, throwing himself in front of me.
The orb struck him full in the chest, and I watched in horror as he was flung backward, his body convulsing as the shadowy magic sank into his flesh. He hit the ground hard, blue eyes wide with shock and pain.
