Chapter 6 Tragic Backstories
Hazel
Something shifts behind me, but when I turn, there’s nothing… just darkness stretching for miles. A sharp scratching sound grates against the walls, making my teeth clench. My arms burn like they’re on fire, but when I try to rub them, my fingers pass through empty air.
That’s when it hits me.
I’m in his domain.
Shadows shift before my eyes, slowly taking the shape of a man I know too well. I step back instinctively, putting as much distance between us as I can.
A harsh light flares above me, blinding me for a second before he comes into view.
Tiberius.
My breath falters, fear sinking in before anger can take hold. He’s back. He found a way into my head. Again.
I’m facing his back, and when he lifts his arm, I realize what the scratching sound was. His finger drags down a stone wall, nail carving into the surface as he adds another line, grunting with the effort.
“It’s been 4,378 days since you left me.”
Is that what the lines on the walls are? Has he been counting the days since I escaped from his claws with blood?
“Are you ready to come back, Flaw?”
Flaw.
The word set every nerve in my body on fire. The bastard gave me that name to remind me that my existence is nothing more than a flaw in Fate’s grand plans.
I hate the smugness in his tone. He’s so sure he can break me, so sure his threats will have me begging at his feet.
would scare me enough that one day I would beg to return to him.
The thought of returning to that life snaps something in me until I forget about the fear choking me, and rage takes over.
“I’m never going back.” I spit.
His head snaps to me, the shadows around his face shifting to let me see anger blazing in his eyes. He turns and straightens to his full height to tower over me, forcing me to take another step back, but it makes no difference.
Tiberius still hovers over me like a curse.
“No?”
It’s a challenge. And when I don’t budge, he tilts his head and laughs softly, like I’m a stubborn child who doesn’t understand the consequences of my choice.
The darkness around us suddenly ebbs, and suddenly I’m standing in the living room of the Horseman Castle, my favorite place in the world.
Just the reminder of this place slows my racing heart, even though I know it’s another one of his tricks.
I feel him behind me before a shove sends me stumbling forward, a splash echoing in the eerie silence.
Something wet coats my feet, and when I look down, a scream lodges in my throat. Blood.
I’m standing in blood.
The dark red liquid flows like a river. My eyes follow it, feet moving closer to the source without my permission, but I freeze at the sight before me.
My hand flies to my mouth to keep myself from throwing up.
Bodies lie in chopped-up pieces, scattered across the room, every surface soaked in red. I turn away before I can see the faces of people I’ll recognize with my eyes closed.
It’s just a dream. He can’t hurt them here. It’s not real.
The sound of a child crying cuts through the ringing in my head.
“Hazel?” A small voice whimpers, and my stomach drops.
Is that—
“August?!” I run toward the sound, but the darkness keeps stretching endlessly, pulling him farther away. He calls for me again, the sound of his cries piercing through my heart, but no matter how fast I run, I can’t reach him.
All of a sudden, everything turns black, and I slip, hitting the ground hard, my head bouncing off the floor with a sickening crack.
I try to push up, but my hands slip, unable to find purchase.
A spotlight appears directly above me, my eyes stinging from the sudden change, but when my eyes open again, a strangled gasp tears out of my throat.
I’m lying in a pool of blood.
Shiny black shoes step into view, but I don’t dare look up. I won’t give him the satisfaction of seeing the panic and fear on my face.
Tiberius crouches. Forcing me to meet his gaze.
The harsh light sharpens his features, making them appear even more cutting. His silver eyes gleam with amusement, like preying on my fears is prime entertainment for him. That soft, deceitful smile could fool anyone into believing he’s just a man… until they see the darkness within him.
He dips two fingers in the blood soaking me before bringing them to eye level—thick, red liquid running down his wrist.
“This is how it will end, Flaw. The Horsemen will pay for stealing you.”
“They didn’t steal me. I ran away because you’re a monster.”
Tiberius throws his head back, laughing like this is a joke to him, but then the humor drains from his face, and his hand shoots out to wrap around my throat, squeezing until my vision blurs.
I try to raise my arms to fight his hold, but they stay limp.
I have no control here.
“You’ll pay for that.”
His grip tightens, fingers digging into my flesh until all I can manage are broken gasps. He’s losing control. The silver in his eyes fades as his pupils blow wide.
Just when I think he’s going to kill me, something behind me startles him. His eyes widen, the shock of whatever he’s seeing makes his grip falter, and I’m able to escape his hold, breathing until my head stops swimming.
I stumble back, my lungs screaming with every breath I take, but he doesn’t follow me. Instead, Tiberius retreats into the shadows, rage burning in his eyes.
“If I were you, I’d keep an eye on your friends. People get hurt in the dark.”
A sharp buzzing pierces my ears, and I jolt awake, the trance finally breaking.
I sit up on my bed, gasping for air, my hand flying to my throat.
I scramble out of bed to the full-length mirror leaning against the wall and stare at my reflection. Tears streak down my cheeks, and the sight disgusts me, knowing Tiberius feeds on my weakness. I wipe my face quickly like he can still see me.
A dark purple bruise blooms across my neck, taunting me. I knew I couldn’t hide forever, but now that he knows where I am, even if I ran, it won’t save anyone. He’ll still come after the Tetrad kingdom, wanting revenge.
After Nevaeh and August finally came home and Visha was gone, I thought I’d finally be able to sleep peacefully. Instead, I traded one nightmare for another.
Tiberius has haunted my dreams for years, but he couldn’t touch me before. That changed around the same time my nightmares became more lucid. Now, every time he invades my mind, he feels stronger, more in control… like he’s getting closer.
I don’t know what changed, but now he can hurt me without being here, and he knows where I am.
What do I do? I can’t run. I can’t stay. I can’t fight him.
Was he right? Will this end with blood on my hands?
A memory of Tiberius striking me with his Divine flashes before my eyes. The attack left a bruise on my chest that took months to heal, but my Divine felt different after that day. Like it never healed.
Something deep inside me knew he stole something from me that day, but I didn’t realize what until I escaped him and couldn’t use my magic like any others of my kind.
Tiberius broke me. Made me vulnerable so he could control me.
That was always the plan. Strip me down until I couldn’t survive without him. He made sure the thought of a life out of his control would be nothing but a faraway dream.
I stand in the center of my room, panic humming in my veins, my head snapping in every direction, hearing things that aren’t there. I’m acting like he might step out of a dark corner, even when I know there’s nothing.
Bile rises in my throat. I’ve reached my limit. I can’t do this anymore.
I rush near my bed to grab my boots, shoving my feet into them, but before I can reach the door, thunder cracks across the sky.
I bite my tongue hard enough to taste blood, burying a panicked scream in my throat.
My eyes squeeze shut, heart lodged in my throat. I take a moment to get my breathing under control, then throw the door open.
Before I can run down the hallway and out of the castle, something pulls me in the other direction, my feet taking me toward Dean’s door.
How can I crave arms that have never held me?
But I can’t make myself knock.
I don’t deserve to barge in on him in the middle of the night.
Just because my world is falling apart doesn’t mean I get to ask him to be my peace.
I’ve been nothing but trouble since the day he met me. I shut him down. Make fun of his efforts. I see how much he wants this to work, and still show him every single day why it wouldn’t.
But there’s a reason I can’t let him close.
The first time I saw him, a burst of hope filled me until I thought I was going to explode. I thought all my dreams were finally coming true. When Dean called me, mate… I finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
I thought the darkness was over. But I was wrong… so wrong.
The next morning, I woke with bruises on my arms… finger marks from where Tiberius had grabbed me in my dream.
I’d grown so used to his astral form and his hand passing right through me when he tried to grab me that I forgot how brutal his grip could be.
It was a warning. He was coming to take what he thought was rightfully his. And I knew if—when—he found me, he’d kill anyone who came in his way.
I turn away from Dean’s door, from the best thing that has ever happened to me, before I can taint it.
I need to get out of here. I need to run. My knuckles go white, feeling cold to the bone, lungs seizing like I’m drowning in nothing.
There’s only one person who can help.
I don’t stop until I reach her, knocking until she opens the door.
Nevaeh takes one look at the bruise spreading down my neck and grabs my hand, pulling me into her room.
For the first time tonight, I can breathe.