Chapter 7 Arwyn #3
“Oh, I know. Hence why I’m here babysitting you, and your father is heading to London.
It is in his blood, your blood, to persuade those in power to cleanse the world of evil.
Your ancestors have achieved it for years and will do so again.
The age of Witch Hunters will once again rule, and we can watch from the sidelines until the world is truly saved. ”
“And yet you are saying this to a man who has the very demon inside of him. The witches no longer have access to Bahmet, so they are no longer the threat. We’re the threat.
” I allowed the truth to rush out of me, hot as the fire burning in my gut.
“Will you set me to the pyre once every other witch is destroyed?”
“That’s not for me to decide,” she replied, unable to look at me.
“No,” I said, lip curling over teeth. “Because the moment I die, Bahmet will be sent back to his void of shadow, ready and waiting for another witch to claim him.”
Her lips quivered into a harsh smile. “Bahmet will be destroyed in the end, you know that.”
“You’re a mind reader, you out of us all should know that my father would never destroy such an important tool.”
To my surprise, she agreed. “I know that, but I will. I will make sure Bahmet doesn’t poison another person again. You, Arwyn, will be the last. And you will be remembered as such, trust me.”
The death of a Grand High released Bahmet back into his void to wait out the time for the next to claim him. History said as much. And yet, I had an idea of how to destroy him, because out of all the things the demon lord didn’t fear, Hector Briar wasn’t one of them.
For a moment, the dark flashed with bright light.
The scene on the television flooded back onto the screen, showing what was happening in London.
I watched as military personnel stormed the scene.
There were many people on their knees, arms bound behind their backs.
Witches, all of them. And yet no one was fighting back.
Was this because they didn’t want to make matters worse, or because they were Giftless, as Hector had suggested?
None of that mattered when the camera showed the very man I was searching for.
Hector was on his knees, a gun pressed into the soft of his neck.
His eyes were closed, a sense of peace locked in his expression, as if he expected his end to greet him.
The blood had dried on his skin, masking his beauty in a wash of shadow.
And yet, to me, he was everything and more.
“Stop!” I shouted at the screen as if those beyond it could hear me. “Let go of him!”
A hand pressed down on my shoulder. “I’m sorry, Arwyn. But this is why love is a weakness. Once Hector Briar has been slain, you will finally be free to see sense again.”
Hector was going to die, and there was nothing I could do to stop it…
I risked a look away from the television, pinning my eyes on my aunt. “You have to save him.”
“Even if I cared, that is out of my—”
“I’m not the only vessel for Bahmet. Hector Briar has a shard within him too. You want to destroy Bahmet… you need him.”
Her smile faltered. “Lying will not help you now, Arwyn.”
“Read my fucking mind and tell me if I’m lying.
” My entire body trembled. Time was running out.
The seconds it took for my aunt’s eyes to glow with a circlet of emerald were the most torturous of my life.
But then I could almost feel it, fingers in my mind, searching for a lie that would never be found.
“When Hector’s mother was pregnant with him, a part of Bahmet retreated into the baby out of desperation.
She was smothering the demon with thistlebane, and he wanted control.
Bahmet managed to split himself, escaping into Hector before he was born.
If you kill Hector, that part will be sent back to the void. ”
She didn’t speak. Her wide brown eyes blinked rapidly as she took in all the information.
“You need Hector,” I pleaded, hot tears filling my eyes. “You want to destroy Bahmet, right? Hector is the key to that. I can’t explain it, but I know that Bahmet fears Hector and what he harbours inside of him. If you want Bahmet to be dealt with, you’re going to need Hector alive.”
I was breathless by the time I was finished.
My aunt didn’t speak. Instead, I felt the slither of her unseen fingers finally leave my mind, just before her eyes died in their colourful glow.
She had no choice to believe me or not, considering I told the truth and she’d felt that.
But I waited on tenterhooks for her to do something, all the while the image of Hector on his knees was imprinted on the screen behind her.
She reached into her pocket, withdrew a phone and frantically pressed the screen. I watched her press it to her ear, but then she was leaving me. I tried to call out for her, but nothing I said mattered.
The last I heard was her speak my father’s name in greeting, and I could only hope my truth had struck home.
I was left alone to watch the horrors unfurling in London on the soundless television.
The scene would leave from Hector, and I found myself holding my breath until he returned.
But he never did. As I watched the military round up witches from within the Tower of London, and cart them into the back of large vans, I studied the scene in search for him.
Hours passed. I didn’t see him again, and the views of London moved to a sombre pair of news presenters sitting behind a desk. I began to scream.
I didn’t stop until my throat bled, and the vessels in my body popped one by one.