Chapter 26 Sera
Sera
I’m dreaming again.
Or maybe I never woke up and everything with Maliki was a dream, too. I’m not quite sure. What he did to me with his tattoos certainly felt like a fantasy.
And this… this is surreal.
Clouds. Flowers. The scent of a morning mist.
It’s everywhere.
Yet nothing is familiar.
I feel lost. Alone. Desolate.
Like I’m trapped in a maze…
The thought makes me frown. Am I in Hades’s labyrinth?
I spin around, noting the fog and lifeless walls. There are skulls everywhere, the faces etched into the cement-like corridors.
I shiver.
This place isn’t as beautiful as I thought. It’s… it’s death.
“Hades?” I whisper, searching for him. “Are you… hunting me?”
The question sends a jolt down my spine. If this is real, then perhaps my heat is about to begin. Maybe I’m supposed to run.
But I… I don’t feel like being chased. He said an Omega likes to test her potential mates. Shouldn’t I want to—
Movement from the corner of my eye grabs my attention as a blue cloak scurries past me. “Pip!” I cry out in relief.
Only… only, he doesn’t stop or face me. He just scampers off and around a corner.
“Hey!” I chase after him, confused and a little miffed that he didn’t acknowledge me. That isn’t like him at all.
When I turn the bend, I see him floating off in a hurry, like he’s running from something.
Is he trying to guide me out of this maze? I wonder. Has something happened?
The urgent sway of his cloak makes me pursue him, my steps growing faster as he picks up speed. “Pip!” I try again. “Wait!”
He’s practically sprinting now, winding us through the hazy labyrinth and dragging me deeper into the murky darkness.
Only to halt at a solid black wall decorated with intricate symbols. I stare at it, mesmerized by the magic pouring off the barricade.
“What is this, Pip?” I ask as he studies the barrier.
He doesn’t respond. Not that he usually talks, but he often tries to communicate with gestures.
Instead, all he does is touch the engravings with a gloved hand.
I take a tentative pace forward, my own hand lifting as I try to understand what he’s doing. “Pip,” I start, then notice a strange flickering in his robe.
It’s… it’s not the right blue color. It’s tarnished and a bit black.
My brow furrows, and my hand starts to drop to my side. Something isn’t right. This isn’t—
The creature grabs my wrist and yanks me forward, forcing me to touch the enchanted barrier just as a pair of big red eyes meets mine from beneath the hood.
A scream bursts from my throat, the sound echoing all around me as the world fades into a dark oblivion.
And then there’s nothing.
No maze. No black wall. No engravings. No Pip.
It’s just a dark abyss, one that lacks sensation and makes me feel even more lost than before.
My lips part as I try to scream again. But noise doesn’t exist here. Not even air appears to be present. It’s simply a vapid cavern.
A chill skitters up my spine. This feels very real. Too real.
Am I awake? Do I even exist?
The latter thought stirs an ache inside me, one that has me shivering.
Except that I no longer have skin. Or bone. Or anything.
It’s like I’m a soul.
Wait… My eyebrows lift. Is this… is this how Persephone feels?
Did we switch places?
Is she corporeal now?
And I… I’m here?
Is that even possible?
I spin around. Or I think I do, anyway. But I feel nothing. Sense nothing. Am nothing.
I have no mouth to open. No vocal cords to use for a scream. No arms to wave. No legs to run with.
I… I don’t exist here.
How does one escape from a void?
All I have is my thoughts. My mind. My yearnings. My wants.
It’s like the worst form of a prison. Terrifying. Cold. Lonely.
Frigid sensations overwhelm me, freezing me from deep within.
It’s debilitating. Paralyzing. Horrifying.
I experienced fear on the Day of the Choosing, the moment my name was called.
However, this… this is true terror.
If this is a nightmare, then surely Morpheus will free me from it.
But this doesn’t feel like a dream anymore.
This feels very real.
And I’m pretty sure waking up isn’t an option.
“It’s chilling, isn’t it?” a feminine voice murmurs against my ear. “A prison unlike any other. One where the souls are trapped for eternity and guarded by the God of Wrath.”
I try to turn around, to see the source of those words.
Because I know that cultured tone. It’s similar to the accents spoken by Morpheus and Hades, only haughtier somehow.
It’s the same voice that used to call me “Daughter.”
“Alina subjected me to this fate. After all I’ve done for Omega kind, it’s truly a disheartening experience. And then there’s you, my own daughter, betraying me with him.”
Her tone takes a frigid turn, the coldness inside me seeming to spread through every inch of my being.
“How dare you return to him,” she says. “After all I’ve shown you, all I’ve done for you.” She tsks, the sound reminding me of metal scraping against stone. “And you let him touch you?”
Wind whirls around me, the sensation both welcome and unnerving. Welcome because I can finally feel something other than an icy sense of nothingness. And unnerving because it’s unworldly in nature. Angry, too.
“You deserve this fate, Persephone,” Demeter goes on. “It’s a lesson you need to learn. Alphas are monsters. They’ll take you against your will. Do unfathomable things to you. I tried to save you, sweetheart. I did. But you chose this. You chose him.”
The wind heightens, a rush of power washing over me. It’s hot and unfamiliar. A kiss of lively electricity, one that sets my veins on fire.
A scream echoes in my mind, the agony razor-sharp as the heat threatens to burn me alive.
Only for a kiss of cold magic to calm the flames.
Demeter growls, the reverberation deep and intimidating. “What is this?” she demands.
But I can’t answer.
I have no mouth. No corporeal form. No identity.
I am simply a mixture of fiery intensity and ice.
Cold bands wrap around me, yanking me out of the void and into the maze.
Demeter’s roar follows close behind as flames erupt all around me in a blinding flash of brilliant light.
I lift my hands to shield my eyes, only vaguely aware that I’m me again. Human. Corporeal.
And then everything stills, the silence reminding me of the abyss.
A sob escapes me, the notion of being nothing again chilling me to my very core.
“Sera,” Maliki breathes, his voice and presence the most welcome experience of my existence.
I lower my hands to find him hovering over me, his dark brows angled downward in concern.
I don’t think; I react, and throw my arms around his neck, needing to feel him, to ensure he’s really here. That I’m safe. Not lost. Not alone. Not forgotten.
“Is this real?” I ask, desperate to be told I’m awake. I still exist. I’m here.
“Yeah, trouble, this is real,” he replies, his fingers threading through my hair as he hugs me against his bare chest.
He’s naked.
I’m naked.
Everything is warm.
Everything is tangible.
Everything is okay.
I press my face into his neck and breathe him in, indulging in his leather scent tinged with smoke. Though, the latter smells stronger now, like he’s wrapped me up in his smokelike tattoos.
“What happened, Sera?” he asks. “Why did you get so hot?”
My shoulders stiffen. “I felt hot to you?”
“Like you were burning up with a fever,” he replies, his fingers combing through my hair. “I had to cool you down with my shadows.”
My eyes widen. “The bands…” It was Maliki’s cool power that I felt wrap around me.
But that… that means it was all real.
How is that possible?
“Bands?” Maliki prompts.
“In my nightmare. Dream. Whatever that was…” I trail off and swallow. “I dreamt that I was nothing, just a soul. And Demeter was there.”
I proceed to tell him everything I can remember, from the Pip look-alike to the words Demeter said to me.
“You probably think I sound crazy,” I say at the end.
But he shakes his head. “No. I don’t think you were dreaming at all. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this happened after you experienced pleasure again. There’s something linking you to Demeter.” He cups my cheek. “When Hades returns, we need to tell him about this.”
I swallow and nod. “Okay.” Then I frown. “Where is he?”
Maliki’s lips curl a little. “Oh, he’s talking to Morpheus.”
My eyebrows fly upward. “What?”
His smile grows. “I think your mate may have learned how to share…”