Chapter 10 #2
I take the lead as Bones throws me a deer-caught-in-the-headlights look.
“Bloodroot grows in a cave near the river. It is sparse and only produces a few leaves. Its origins are unknown, other than that it was a hybrid strain of two plants. It was planted on purpose. And its effects are beyond potent. It is the only thing strong enough to bring one back from a Skelker possession.”
“Aries is supposed to be the expert,” Draven states.
“This hybrid strain was most likely cultivated by his family. So how do you know all of this? You’ve only existed as Mia’s nightmare man since your creation.
We’re also going to need to know what a fucking Skelker is.
” Draven’s tone is demanding as usual, but not accusatory. At least that’s not how I take it.
The old pipes clank together, an indication that Mia’s turned on the water in the shower upstairs. They bang and clamor with a force that would startle anyone else, but we’re all used to it.
I take a sip of my drink, relishing how quickly it dizzies me.
“There is a source we are all connected to—nightmare men, children of nightmare men, the Wishing Tree… Skelker. It’s like an invisible thread that keeps us tethered to him.
So although I was not there all those centuries ago when these oaths were forged, they are imprinted on me like dreams. The ancient knowledge runs through my veins like DNA.
They are someone else’s memories, of course, but they exist in the fiber that keeps us all rooted to him. ”
“El diablo,” Bones murmurs.
I nod. “Yes, the devil. A Skelker is just an entity. An extension of him. Like me and the dark half of you, Draven. But unlike us, the Skelker aren’t born.
They are made. From blood, bone, and living tissue.
They are taken, trained, and forced to obey.
He drains them of their humanity until they can barely remember who they once were.
And then he starves them. Not in the sense that you are accustomed to.
Not for food. But for power. And the only way to satiate a Skelker is by giving him a soul to play with.
He feeds on fear, desire, and pain. And the only way to keep him at bay is by ingesting poison.
It numbs the senses and gives him nothing to devour. ”
Aries retrieves a vial from his pocket. He gazes at it in his palm. “That’s why… fuck.”
“Why what?” Draven snaps.
“That’s why our little lamb has been consuming enough baneberry to rock all of us back to the Poison War era,” Aries quips back.
I nod in agreement. “She must’ve realized that it quiets the dark voice in her head.
But she’s getting out of control. He burrowed inside her mind when she sobered up on the way to the garage.
Her resistance was likely low because of the comedown.
In extreme cases like that, Bloodroot is the only thing powerful enough to shock the system. ”
“It’s my fault. I’ve been giving her too much,” Aries admits.
“No shit. Who the fuck else would? Are you insane? Did you not think to tell us about this?” Draven stalks toward the blond Adonis with a furious vengeance.
“We were partying, Dray. Fucking. Having fun. You do remember what fun is, don’t you? How was I supposed to know she was using it to self-medicate?” They are nose-to-nose now.
“None of us knew. We’re all assholes,” Bones declares.
He presses a palm to each of their chests and pushes back, creating a bigger space between them.
This group loves as hard as it hates. And sometimes the line between violence and affection gets blurred.
That is one of the main reasons I’m so drawn to them.
The tension is thick, but it’s only a mask.
Underneath all the bravado is fear. We live to protect each other.
But we’d kill for Mia. We’d die for her.
But we are also possessive creatures, fueled by lust and pheromones and craving.
The thought of anything or anyone else touching her without our consent is what’s really driving us mad in this moment.
It makes us feel vulnerable, weak, and helpless.
“Let’s all calm down and be grateful that Mia is fine.
We can’t help her if we are at each other’s throats.
The Skelker would like to divide us, no doubt.
We need to let her speak on it.” I steady my heartbeat and keep one ear trained on the floor above.
I know one thing for sure. He will not take her while she’s in my presence.
Draven sinks into the soft leather cushions and stretches his long, lanky legs out in front of him. “He’s coming for her. That’s inevitable. It’s only a matter of time. This psychic torture is just a warm-up. Soon he’ll be here in the flesh. They all will. The veil is thinning.”
Aries scrunches his brow. “What the fuck, Dray?”
“You’re scaring me, bro.” Bones’s grits his teeth, flexing his jaw.
“Her oath… the Wishing Tree… Setting me free… An old wound was reopened,” I murmur. “And we poured salt onto it.”
“How do we stop the Skelker?” Bones asks.
I sigh. “I don’t know, but we can’t allow her to drown the rest of her life in poison.”