Page 80 of Black Onyx
“Yep, let’s do this,” I reply with confidence.
I call my magic forward, relieved when it comes when I call and has been replenished while I napped. My father is a powerful man, and if this doesn’t go as we planned, then I’m going to need my magic to be at full strength.
“Everyone needs to be touching,” I explain, and they all grasp each other’s shoulders, and Loki and Reaper thread their fingers through my hands. “When we get near to the exit, I’ll pause, and if Killian and Storm could then cloak us in shadows, we can move forward. Poca, could you go ahead and alert us if there’s anyone else in there? If I don’t hear from you, I’ll assume it's safe to proceed.”
Poca immediately disappears to do as I’ve asked.
“He can get a hold of you in the Void?” Rival asks.
“He can, but he doesn’t like being there. That’s why I won’t make him come just to tell me that everything is okay.” I explain and then add, “ready?”
Once everyone’s confirmed, I pull us all into the Void with surprising ease. I’ve never travelled with this many people before and wasn’t sure if I could manage it. I knew no one was going to be willing to stay behind, so rather than make an issue where there may not be one, I decided to bring it up if it became a problem.
“Whoa, how do you even know where you’re going?” Mayhem asks as we walk through the Void to the point where I know the exit will be.
“What do you see?” I ask curiously.
“The same as you, I assume.” Storm answers.
I grin, “Humour me.”
“Nothing, just all-encompassing blackness. I can’t even tell what we’re walking on, and I can’t see any of you.” Storm answers.
“That’s not what I see. It’s dark, but I can see shapes, and I’m aware that things and creatures are around us. Right now, there are two walking next to us. I couldn’t tell you what they are; I can only see vague shapes, they’re cloaking themselves, but I can tell you that they have no intention of harming us. At least these ones don’t.”
“That’s, wow, that’s just fucking crazy,” Killian mutters.
“What do you mean these ones don’t?” Mayhem asks, picking up on the last thing I said.
“There are plenty of things here that will kill you happily if you stray too far away from me. They don’t wish to harm me, and I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe it’s because of my gift, I don’t know, but they won’t hesitate to consume others.”
“Well, now I’m thoroughly freaked out,” Loki admits, his hand gripping mine tightly.
“Just don’t let go.”
“Never,” he replies fiercely.
“You smooth fucker.” Mayhem chuckles.
“Do you guys see the light, just up ahead?” I ask.
“Nope,” Storm replies.
“Okay, ten more steps and then I’ll stop, and I need you two to conceal us in shadows.”
“Got it,” Killian replies.
It takes mere moments for us to be at the doorway, or what I consider a doorway, and the guys have us concealed quickly enough. With one last check to see if everyone is ready, I take us through the door.
I tense when we see my father sitting behind his desk, a single light on in the vast room casting shadows up the walls, perfect for everyone to stay hidden. When my father doesn’t even pause in writing as he quickly scribbles in one of his many notebooks, I breathe a slight breath of relief. I motion for the others to stay put and motion to Killian, silently asking if he can keep me concealed and hoping that he can understand me.
He seems to, and I move forward on silent feet. Stepping over the boards that I know make a noise and being temporarily thrown back in time to when I used to do this when my father let me out for functions, I was determined to find something I could use against him, but I never found anything of relevance in the short time I had to explore before I’d be noticed as being missing. Killian follows in my footsteps, his tail wrapping around his leg, so it doesn’t accidentally knock anything. I move behind my father’s chair so I have easy access to his throat; he tenses slightly but soon relaxes, no doubt thinking it has something to do with the slightly cracked window.
I pull out my blade, the ones I’ve used for my assassinations and move quickly to place it against his throat. It’s a good fucking job that I moved swiftly because Killian was so shocked by the weapon that I felt the magic of the shadows drop from my skin. I can feel my father trying to ready a spell, but without my instruction, my magic has strengthened the magic dampening spells on the blade and is holding my father completely immobile. I’m not sure how long it will last, so, wasting no time, I lean forward, putting my mouth near my frozen father’s ear. I have a few things I want to say to him before he descends down to the Realm he truly deserves.
Making sure my voice is low enough that the guard stationed outside can’t hear, I say, my voice deadly, “Hello, father, since you’ve decided to end my life, I decided to return the favour. I thought it poetic that the weapon I used in the many assassinations you’ve sent me on since I turned fifteen be the one to end your miserable life. I have more blood on my hands than in my body, and that’s thanks to you.”
With nothing left to say, I swipe the wickedly sharp blade across his neck savagely, listening as he gurgles and chokes on his own blood. My magic holds him still and tells me when his heart has stopped. Wasting no time, I activate the spell that lengthens the blade and then sever his head; it thumps onto his desk. The sound echoing in the silent room, I throw a very powerful ashing spell on both the head and the body and watch as they disappear into black ash. I then command the air to take all traces out of the crack in the window.
