Chapter 35 Hector #2
It didn’t take long for the bliss of the last hours to disappear like ash on the wind. And from the awkward glances that Romy shot my way, I had no doubt Arwyn was right.
Note to self, next time I’d ask Arwyn to choke me so I couldn’t make so much noise.
“I’ll say it again, because clearly you are not listening.
I trust her.” Romy had torn the bread into chunks on her plate, and yet she hadn’t eaten a mouthful.
Unlike my plate, that was now empty. If she left her food for much longer, I’d ask to have it.
“The Hunter said he was sent to collect me. If you hadn’t turned up I would’ve gone with him, and you wouldn’t have had your lift threatened. ”
Funnily enough, my appetite was ruined by the conversation. “Oh, because going with the enemy sounds like a smart idea.”
“Says the man who literally prepared to go off and have a private conversation with the imposter…” Romy said, one brow raised.
And she wasn’t wrong.
“Listen. Both of you. That Hunter defected from Verena’s task, and died for it,” Kai said, nestled so close to Romy’s side that he was practically forged with her. “I don’t think arguing over it is going to change the outcome.”
“Kai’s right. That Hunter got his justified fate,” Arwyn added over the lip of his glass of ale. “Make it clear that if anyone else lifts a finger against any of you, they’ll die.”
“Your father, and Verena, are the only two competitors left. We all know that Tomin can’t die, so would you happily put your aunt down if the opportunity presented itself?” Romy asked, picking nonchalantly at her bread. “Are you willing to go against family?”
“Is that really a question?” Arwyn asked.
Romy’s silence confirmed enough that she was serious about her inquiry.
“If the moment requires it, yes. Yes, I would,” Arwyn answered.
Kai shivered, leaning back in his chair. “There are two trials left. We outnumber Tomin and Verena.”
“Actually, I’m with Romy on the stance of Verena. She doesn’t stand with Tomin,” I said. “I might not trust her, but I do know that much. She has proven on multiple occasions that she would rather stick her neck on the line for us.”
I watched Romy’s reaction, but nothing seemed out of place.
Her focus was on the ruins of her gutted piece of bread.
“Bahmet will love this. That demon prick will do anything to tear us apart. We don’t know what’s coming next, but we can guarantee that Bahmet is going to try and turn us against each other.
There isn’t enough of us left to stretch out the final trials… not like before.”
“I agree.” I hated to admit it, but Romy was right. Bahmet needed a victor, and we didn’t have long left. “We have to be ready for anything.”
Romy’s warm eyes landed on me. “The next chance you get to kill Bahmet with his own power, you take it. This needs to end and quickly.”
My breath caught in my throat. I coughed to cover my reaction, whilst hyper-aware that Kai was studying me from his seat.
“Bahmet isn’t going to let me get close enough to do anything,” I said, hoping she didn’t see through my lie.
“No being of such power is going to make themselves vulnerable for no good reason.”
“So we give that goat-cunt a good reason,” Romy snapped, palm slapping the table.
“We force him out into the open. We bind him, or something. For Goddess’ sake, we are witches.
We have power. More so, we have old magic back.
There must be something we can do against a beefed-up goat-man in a poorly tailored suit. ”
No one spoke at first. Kai then laughed… as did Arwyn. I couldn’t stop smiling either. At the heart of it, Romy was right. We were witches. We had magic, something previous contenders of past Witch Trials did not have access to. But this far, Bahmet still was in control.
“Bahmet’s not the only issue we need to be worried about,” Kai said, distracting the conversation with the light lilt of his voice.
He ran a hand through his ginger curls, leaning back in his chair as his little demon cat purred softly on his lap.
“We left the real world in the grasp of Hunters. How long have we been gone now? What’s happening to our brothers and sisters back home?
We have no idea how many of them have already burned, or been executed.
The longer we spend time here, the more damage is unfolding outside of his fucked-up realm. ”
A pain jolted through my chest, conjured by the guilt of not sparing our world a thought since these trials began. Kai was right. Onus unfurled like a flower to sunlight in my chest. I had been so focused on the trials, and what had been lost—or given up—along the way.
We’d left our home in the clutches of our enemy. There was no saying the wounds that were being left behind across witch-kind… the scars that would be close to impossible to heal.
“All the more reason to finish this,” Romy said, throwing the last shreds of her bread on the plate.
“For all we know, Bahmet will not start the next trial for weeks from now. Time doesn’t matter to the demon, especially if it weakens us body and spirit.
I’d say it’s not even been a week yet since this started, and the longest the Witch Trials ever lasted was close to half a year.
If we don’t end this now, we risk losing more than just each other. ”
“What do you suggest?” I asked, recognising the glint of a plan forming behind Romy’s hazel eyes. “Because I sense you have a plan, and you’re gearing up for the grand reveal.”
Romy straightened in her seat, sparing each of us a glance as she readied herself to reveal the plan she one hundred percent had already created.
“I say we force Bahmet’s hand. We make the demon drag us into the next trial.
Then, when we get the chance, we attack.
” By we, I knew Romy meant you. Me. “If that doesn’t work, we do the same for the final trial.
Bahmet needs to pick a victor. That’s going to be hard if we all survive.
If we don’t take control, Bahmet is going to force us into a position that we each fight one another until the victor is crowned.
You know we can’t leave by forfeiting. We must fight. ”
“To the death,” Arwyn said, face ashen as his face settled on each and every one of us.
“And the only person who can evade death is my father. Tomin is prepped to win. If we don’t do something he’ll take Bahmet’s power, and the destruction of witch-kind is practically signed in blood and power. There’ll be no stopping him.”
Silence filled the room, so loud that it drove me mad. Who would’ve thought silence could be loud in the first place, but then again, my ears rang like they were going to pop.
“Okay,” I said, mind whirling, head buried in hands until I saw stars wink in the darkness. “Okay. We need a plan to lure Bahmet to start the next trial. Any ideas?”
Romy smiled to herself. Her time was here.
It felt as though it had been years since I’d last seen her crack a grin, so this was an improvement.
“Actually there is something. As the self-proclaimed encyclopaedia for the Witch Trials, I seem to remember a singular time that Bahmet was forced to start a trial against… of course at the time it wasn’t documented that Bahmet was even behind them…
but if we can trust the source, I think I know what we can do. ”
Arwyn rested his elbows on the table, excitement glowing in his wondrous eyes. “Paris, 1954. Romy, I could kiss you!”
“Please don’t,” she grumbled. “I actually know where your mouth has been and I don’t want that anywhere near me.”
“I second what she said. Arwyn, keep your lips to yourself,” Kai added, wrapping a protective arm around Romy’s shoulder. “I’m surprised they aren’t already exhausted from what you’ve been doing tonight.”
My cheeks flamed red with embarrassment. “Perhaps less sarcasm about our sex life, and you can explain what happened in 1954?”
Romy and Arwyn said two words at the same time, voices blending as one.
“Hekate happened.”