Curse Broken (Cursed Descent (MistHallow Academy) #3)

15. Luc

15

LUC

“Godammit, Tilly!” The curse is quiet and harsh, as the pit collapses in on itself, burying her and Chaos under tons of rock and debris. The chamber shudders violently, more stone crashing down from above.

Without hesitation, Vex throws up a net of dark magick, catching the falling stone before the entire chamber can come down on top of us. The magick strains against the weight, black energy snapping through the air as he holds it steady. The sound is deafening—grinding rock, splitting stone, and the dying shriek of the gateway as it seals shut.

When the dust settles, there’s nothing but a massive pile of rubble where the pit used to be. Where Tilly is buried.

“I can’t feel her,” Draven says, his voice raw as he scrabbles at the rock that fills the pit. “Why can’t I feel her?”

“She’s not dead, you imbecile, she drained herself closing that fucking gateway on her own,” I growl, already moving toward the debris. “We need to dig. Now.”

“She’s immortal,” Vex backs me up.

“We are assuming she’s immortal,” Draven hisses. “What if?—”

“Shut the fuck up,” I snarl. “She is alive, we just need to quit bitching and get her out of there.”

“Rock by rock,” Vex adds, gritting his teeth and using his left hand to move a rock out of the pile while his right holds up the net.

Every muscle in my body strains as I help shift the debris, one massive boulder at a time. Draven’s senses sweep through the rubble like radar, searching for any flicker of life while Vex maintains the net above us.

We’ve barely made a dent in the pile when the rocks vibrate.

It intensifies until the entire mound of rubble is shaking. Then, with an explosive burst that sends stones flying in all directions, a small form rockets upward through the debris like a cork from a bottle.

Chaos lands on top of the pile, shaking debris from his lion’s mane. His golden eyes are wild, and he barely has time to get clear before the rocks explode outward in a violent burst of power.

Tilly erupts from the rubble like a fucking goddess, debris raining down around her as she rises from the destruction she created. Blood streams from a gash on her temple, her clothes are torn and filthy, but her eyes are blazing with residual power. She hovers for a moment above the ruined pit before dropping gracefully onto a stable section of rock.

“That,” she says, spitting out a mouthful of dirt, “was unpleasant. Zero stars. Do not recommend.”

I snort despite myself, relief making me almost lightheaded. Next to me, Vex lets out a shaky breath and drops the boulder he was in the process of moving while keeping the net above us.

“You’re bleeding,” Draven points out, reaching for her.

She waves him off. “I’m fine. More importantly, it worked.” Her eyes meet mine, and there’s something fierce and triumphant in them. “Gateway is sealed. Permanently, this time. Mama-Devil will be happy.”

“Yeah, well, we are unhappy,” I snap, stepping closer to examine the wound on her temple. “You drained yourself dry closing that thing and then got buried alive. You scared the shit out of Draven.”

“Hey,” he growls.

“It was worth it,” she says firmly. “And I’m fine.”

Chaos lands on her shoulder, his tiny clawed hands tangling in her hair as he gives her ear an affectionate nip. I wince and brace myself for him to start eating her face off, but he settles, snuggling his face into her matted rainbow hair.

“So it’s definitely done?” Vex asks.

“Yeah, but we have bigger problems.”

“Bigger than a gateway to Hell?” I point out.

She shoots me a look that tells me I’m being na?ve. “Magick is unravelling. All of it. ”

“Yeah,” Vex says. “I felt it when I was high.”

Tilly snickers. “Yeah? What was that like?”

“You’ve never been high?” I ask slyly.

Her cheeks turn a cute shade of red under the dirt. “I’ve never done drugs. Or alcohol. Or whatever happened to Vex. Never had a chance to.”

“Oh, I’m not talking about magick or drugs and alcohol, my sweet,” I purr, practically vibrating at the thought that is bouncing around my head. “I’m talking about being high on lust.”

“For fuck’s sake,” Draven mutters. “Can we get out of here before Vex loses concentration and we all end up buried alive?”

“Hey, I can do this all day,” Vex complains.

Tilly’s blush deepens, but there’s a spark of something in her eyes as she meets my gaze. “One apocalyptic crisis at a time, my Demonic love. Let’s get out of here before we discuss sex.”

My cock rages at her words. My Demonic love. I quite like it. “Lead the way,” I gesture toward the tunnel entrance, enjoying the way she has to brush past me to get there. Her scent hits me. Blood and power and that honey scent that makes me reach out and grab her. I pull her closer and lick her face where the blood has run down her cheek from the head wound, tasting her.

She trembles, and I wish we had time for a quickie, but there will be time enough for that later.

I hope.

“So about this unravelling magick,” Draven says when I release her with a smirk, and we start moving. “How bad are we talking?”

Chaos shifts on her shoulder, still covered in dirt. I wonder if he would go ballistic if Tilly tried to give him a bath. But her words bring me back from that painful thought. “Bad enough that even the humans are going to notice soon. Now that the Praxian is free from its curse, it’s drawing all the magick back to itself. Every element, every spell, every classification, is all being pulled back to its source. Me.”

“It’s reverting. Going back to what it was, wild, ancient, celestial magick,” Vex murmurs.

“And we’re the ones who released it,” I say flatly. “I’d like to keep assuming that Draven and I are above whatever is happening, but I’m not so sure that’s accurate anymore. We might be outside the realm of this magick, but it is still celestial in nature. So are we.”

She glances back at me, expression grim. “We didn’t have a choice. But yeah, we kind of broke the world and several other ones. I think you’re right to assume this does affect you now.”

The trek back through the tunnels is silent except for our footsteps and the occasional skitter of loose rocks. Tilly leads the way, back the way we came, with Chaos perched on her shoulder like some bizarre guardian, while I bring up the rear. For some reason, we are being lead directly out of here without any mischief and that makes me fucking suspicious. My eyes keep drifting to the dried blood on her temple, to the way she occasionally steadies herself against the wall when she thinks none of us are looking.

“You sure we’re going the right way?”

“Yep.”

“How come the chambers are behaving?” Draven asks what I was thinking.

“They’re scared of Tilly,” Vex mutters under his breath, but I heard him anyway.

“Well, if it gets us out of here without fucking with us, fine by me.”

“Agreed,” he says.

When we finally reach the place where we entered, we stand around for a bit, looking up, but seeing the hole has closed. “What now?” I ask.

“This way,” Tilly says, following Chaos, who leaps off her shoulder and heads through an opening I hadn’t even seen.

We head up a steep incline and burst out into the growing dawn on the edge of the boundary line to the forest.

Morrigan stands there waiting for us, as if she knew exactly where we would pop up.

“Where the fuck have you been?” I demand, stepping forward. “Do you have any idea the danger that has been going on lately, and you were nowhere to be found?”

Morrigan’s green eyes slide over me like I’m a particularly annoying insect. “I don’t owe you explanations, Demon.” Her gaze fixes on Tilly, who’s gone very still beside me. “I need to speak with you. Alone. ”

“Like hell,” I start, but Tilly’s hand on my arm stops me.

“It’s okay,” she says softly. “I’ll catch up with you guys later.” There’s something in her voice I can’t quite read, but Chaos jumps up onto her shoulder again, his tiny lion face uncharacteristically smiley. It’s creepy as fuck.

“Tilly—” Draven begins.

“Later,” she says more firmly. “Go get cleaned up. I’ll find you, and then we need to talk to Blackthorn about this magick thing.”

She follows Morrigan away from us, leaving me with the distinct feeling that whatever conversation they’re about to have, none of us are going to like it.

“Well, fuck,” Vex mutters, summing up my thoughts exactly.

“Well, fuck, indeed,” I mutter back.