29. TWENTY NINE
TWENTY NINE
PAST FUTURE
I continued to stare at the table where the music box sat. It was there. I saw it. It had to be there. I hummed the tune. I moved back and forth, calming myself.
Where had it gone? I could feel the heat from mybreath warming mycoldbody.
Seraphina stoodwhere I had seen the music box, scrutinising me. I could feel hereyes staring, alwaysdamn well staring at me.
"The shadows are in your mind, Tilly," Seraphina murmured, her tone low and serious.
"You are not only hearing,but you also see what there isn't. That is dangerous for you, dangerous for us all. It means the prophecy is working through you faster than we thought, making your mark uncontrollable. You are too far gone now, and that makes you a threat.”
Yeah, sure, I thought .
"Who are you to speak of trust, after what you and Donte did? If the prophecy twists my mind, I'llfind a way to stop it."
Seraphina's lips curved into a cold smile.
"We have tried everything, child and still the prophecy wins. TheElorium will shed its light soon enough, and when it does, you will see your fate"
I thought of the invisible music, how it had silenced the voices before, how for one fleeting moment I had bent the madness to my will. If I could do it once, I could do it again.
Seraphina was wrong. Iwasn't too far gone. I would fight this, even if it tore me apart.
My legs bounced restlessly against the chair. The rhythm was uneven as my body rocked forward and back, as though I could shake the dread out of me.
Sweat gathered at my temples, sliding down my neck, dampening the collar of my dress. Every breath came shallow as if the air itselfwas turning against me.
The energy around me had changed. I could feel it in the way my skin prickled, in the way my pulse refused to settle in her presence.
***
It felt like hours had passed since Fionn and Cillian went to fetch the Elorium. What was taking them so long? I didn't know how much longer I could sit in the same room as Seraphina without feeling like I was being dissected.
My thoughts drifted back to the dance with Fionn.
I remembered Cillian’s firm tug at my wrist as it ended, not a guiding or steadying pull, but a yank that dragged me back to reality when I nearly lost myself.
I couldn’t forget the look that crossed his face as he pulled me back, and the way a darkness snapped behind his eyes.
This wasn't anger. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself. It was the fear of what was happening to me.
Cillian wanted it to stop. He had always wanted to protect me… hadn't he? Today I saw him switch and I didn’t like what I saw.
But then a voice hissed in the back of my mind:
"Stop being na?ve. I am the only one you can trust."
Now, as I waited for the Elorium’s arrival, the lingering sounds of the music faded into silence, and with them, the voices in my head slowly began to rise. I hummed softly to drown them out. I didn’t need to listen, neither to that voice nor to any of the others.
A susurration rose from the portraits again. They weren't just watching me; they were waiting. Their intention was to convey their power and wisdom to me and to assist me in the difficult choices ahead.
Sensing a distinct change in the energy around me, I knew the Elorium was getting closer.
“They’re almost here,” I said, looking toward the door.
As the words left my mouth, the doors burst open, and Fionn walked in first. His movements were quick.
The warmth I had glimpsed in him during the dance was gone.
He had returned to the version of himself I had first met, cold and distant.
I couldn’t stop wondering if, deep down, he wanted me to stop the curse or if he preferred to watch me slip into darkness from the sidelines.
Behind him, Cillian followed, gripping the Elorium by her wrist—too tightly. His knuckles were white, his jaw clenched, and his eyes still carried that strange dark sheen I couldn’t shake from my mind.
It should have wrapped me in a comforting cocoon of warmth and protection. Instead, it felt like a warning signal that nothing good would come from this.The Elorium had already tried to drain the life from me, so what would stop her from doing it again?
“Don’t worry,” Cillian said reassuringly. Namarelle has agreed to help us.”
I turned to him, drawn in despite myself. Cillian had always been gentle with me. He had been kind in ways the others had not, offering his warmth where they had provided warnings.
I found comfort in him—in the poetic way he spoke and in the romantic view he had of the world.
But now, as he stood there, gripping the Elorium as if he wanted to crush her bones, he felt off.
Beneath that practised softness, he was cracking. Was I mistaking his control for kindness? It was hard to tell.
"Namarelle?" I said, lifting an eyebrow. I was surprised that this fearsome creature had such an elegant name.
"Tilly, it’s not only humans that have names,"Torin said.
I turned my gaze towards Namarelle’s face, her vast emerald, doll-like eyes fixed unblinkingly on me.
The air felt cold in her presence. Her red hair draped down her back in a dense curtain, and the sheen of her skinwaslike milky candle wax.
I was fascinated yet repelled by her. While Cillian and the others weren’t human, they were stillhuman-like.
Namarelle bore no resemblance to any creature I had ever seen before.
At that moment, Fionn moved closer, his arms crossed, and his eyes caught mine.
"Enough waiting. Let’s begin." His gaze never left mine as his arms dropped to his sides.
I should have turned away. That was the logical and safer thing to do. Ignore him and pretend itdoesn't matter. Pretend hedoesn't matter. But Ididn't.
I held hisgaze andcouldn't stop wondering what the voices were saying to him right now. Did he stillwantme dead?
Torin's soft chuckle broke the tension. "Looks like Fionn's finally found someone who doesn’t crumble under that stare of his. Lovely, this ought to be entertaining," he teased.
Seraphina silenced him with a single sharp look, her expression composed thenshe turned her gaze to me.
"The Elorium Order holds immense power. Today, we place our hope in her kind, trusting she will guide you and reveal the path to the one you must bind yourself to.Hopefully, this prophecy can be broken.
This is our chance to see what will happen, our opportunity to know if fate can be defied. If she succeeds, perhaps we can salvage everything…once and for all.
"A guide?"I shot back,my voice filled with doubt.
How can I trust herpower when she tried to kill me? The path ahead seems even more dangerous with her here"
My mouth went dry beneath her unblinking stare. I felt a momentary unease when Cillian released her hand, yet her composure remained placid,so different from the terror I'dfelt in the cellar. Slowly, I began to steady myself.
A strange energy filled the room as she stepped toward me and began speaking in a rapid, singsong chant that reminded me of French spoken by a chipmunk. The closer she approached, the more her eyes bore into me until I felt her presence in my mind.
"How can she do that?" I asked, looking at her suspiciously. "Why would she help me after nearly killing me?"
Cillian tilted his head. His expression turning into a smile that looked less human and more like a man crazed.
What is wrong with you?” I whispered, my voice shaking more than I wanted it to. One second, he was leaning in, all warmth and magnetic charm, and the next... he was a stranger.
Cillian ignored me and turned toTorin.
“Bring the Orb now. Before I decide your life has become redundant."
Torin didn't flinch at the threat. In fact, he let out a sharp laugh, as if the idea of his life being ended was the funniest thing he’d heard all century.
Torinturned and approached an ornate cabinet.
Glints of gold and silver caught my eye as he opened it, revealing the Orb resting on a crystal stand, its depths ablaze with shimmering blue waves that began to pulse when he picked it up.
With the orb in hand, he shot me a slow, wicked wink. It wasn't just a gesture, it was a deliberate middle finger to Cillian. He was telling Cillian, I’m not afraid of your threats. I will play this game the way I please.
Cillian’s fingers closed around mine. His grip was so tight. I looked up, searching for the Cillian I had seen in my room, the one who had been charming and tender.
He was gone in an instant. When I looked at him, a dark, predatory amber burned in his eyes.
As I mentioned his brothers, his thumb pressed into my palm, as if he didn't want me to mention their names again. His entire body grew unnaturally still, like a predator ready to pounce.
From across the chamber, Seraphina’s voice rang out with a soft, ritualistic tone.
"Open your eyes, child. Namarelle is the key to the unseen. Through her, the Elorium Order will guide you and unveil a future yet to be seen. She witnesses what the Gods have yet to reveal."
Fionn stepped forward, his presence overwhelming the room with a slow, predatory elegance. He moved with the quiet confidence of a man who had already decided what would happen today.
“The Elorium visions cannot be controlled." He said, his voice dropping into a low, lethal threat.
"They will reveal memories and futures or possibilities we may not be ready to face. Sometimes they show truths too painful to bear. Other times, they present illusions that twist the mind. ”
There is no power over how long they last or whether what they reveal is the truth.” He stopped inches from me, his shadow swallowing mine.
“But the darkest corners of your mind are no concern to us. Today, if Namarelle forces a choice from you that serves our cause, then her duty is fulfilled. Your comfort is a secondary concern. Do you understand?"