59. Chapter Fifty-Nine Eternal Darkness
Chapter Fifty-Nine: Eternal Darkness
Tess
He wouldn’t let me leave his apartment, and every time I did, he’d find me and teleport me back. So, I made it my mission to wear him down instead. It took countless conversations to get anywhere with him. He could not understand how he had wiped every trace of the growing trust that had blossomed between us with that one decision.
“How do we break the bond, Maverick?”
“We can’t, monstre. We’ll have to get through this another way.”
“You’re saying it’s impossible? No one can do it?”
“I didn’t say that, but I won’t go through with it.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Daily orgasms might help.”
I held in the laugh, because fuck him and that lack of respect I found so hot. “ Stay away from me.”
“At least you don’t have a knife in my gut this time. I don’t care what you think, that’s an improvement, baby.”
Every day he looked at me, I softened a little bit more, and it was pissing me off. He’d brush against me as I poured coffee, sending goosebumps up my arm. I’d bristle, trying not to throw the pot of coffee at his face.
There was no point anyway. It would only send him into stasis for a few days, dragging this lengthy nagging campaign of mine on even longer. And as much as I wanted to punish him, I didn’t want to leave him. Stupidly, I just wanted him to prove he would set me free if that’s what I needed.
I wouldn’t settle for being controlled ever again.
If he wanted me, he’d have to let me choose him. Or not.
He’d have to risk it.
“If you let me go, we might still have a chance.”
“Nope. Not with this cold tugging in my chest when you leave the room. Not gonna happen. Let me show you a different way, baby. I know you’re burning up for me like I am for you.”
I rolled my eyes, ignoring his seduction. “Exactly. We’re held together by this stupid bond instead of choice. I’ll never love you like this, Maverick. I’ll never be able to trust you with this unnatural stranglehold you have on me.”
I was desperate to feel his body all over mine, though. That was true. It just wasn’t the point.
Eventually, after a thousand conversations, we hit that secret combination of questions and answers, and he started to get it.
“I’ll give you anything, Tess. Anything you need. How can I help you trust me again?”
“Freedom is what I need, Maverick. I’ve told you over and over again. If you prove you can honor my needs, I’ll meet your good faith with my own.”
“I can honor your needs…” He reached for me, licking his lips.
“Freedom Maverick. First freedom, then we’ll see about the rest.”
“You’ll stay?”
I leveled a sharp glare at him. “I’ll give you a chance.”
“You promise you won’t run off the moment I turn my back?”
“I promise.”
“If you do, Tess, if you disappear on me, I’ll blow up this whole damned world looking for you.”
“That’s not really achieving the concept of freedom I’m asking for, Mav…”
He groaned. But he thought about it. And eventually, with his hands in tight fists and his eyes flashing red, he agreed.
At least he knew how I felt.
We parked outside Seraphina’s grimoire shop, the quaint, ivy-clad building with a sign that creaked gently in the evening breeze. As we approached, the old wooden door swung open with a soft jingle of bells, welcoming us inside.
Maverick followed me into the shadowy shop, where the air was heavy with the familiar musty fragrance that always greeted me when I visited. Shelves lined the walls, filled to the brim with spellbooks, jars of mysterious ingredients, and various mystical artifacts, as always. A faint, golden light from candles scattered throughout seemed to whisper secrets from beyond.
The sage, ageless woman peered up from behind a counter cluttered with piles of leather-bound journals and bundles of incense, her eyes twinkling with timeless wisdom. Her hair was in her trademark long, silver braid cascading down her back, and she wore a dark purple dress that flowed gracefully with every movement.
“Hello dear, nice to see you again,” she greeted warmly, her voice smooth and comforting like velvet.
“Hi, Seraphina,” I replied, feeling a bit of the tension in my shoulders ease at her familiar presence. I wondered how to broach the topic of the kind of spell we needed, my mind racing with the significance of our request.
“This is a difficult moment for you.” Her perceptive eyes studied my face with gentle concern.
I gave her a tight nod. “Yes.”
“But you’re coming into your power. I can feel how much stronger you stand on your own two feet. That’s good,” she said, her voice infused with a quiet pride.
“Sort of,” I replied, shifting uncomfortably. “This is Maverick. Maverick, Seraphina.”
They held their hands to their breasts in a respectful greeting common in the supernatural world, a gesture that acknowledged an ancient, shared culture. “Tell me what I can do to help, Tess.” Her eyes locked back onto mine with an air of concern.
“We need a separation.” My voice was strained, with the magnitude of our situation hanging heavily in the air.
She smiled, a knowing glint in her eyes. “To separate a seraphim mate bond is no small feat.”
Surprised but not shocked that she already knew what Maverick was, a twitch played at the corners of my lips. “I know. Can you do it?”
Seraphina’s grin faded slightly as she went still, considering our request, no doubt, her brow furrowing in thought. The silence stretched, filled only by the soft intermittent crackling of the candle flames and the distant rustle of the forest outside. Finally, she nodded slowly, her expression tentative.
“It will not be easy, and it will require great strength from you both.” Her voice was solemn and grave. “But yes, it can be done. We will need to prepare carefully and gather the necessary components.”
Relief washed over me, mingled with a renewed sense of determination. “Thank you, Seraphina.” My voice was steadier now.
She reached out and placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “We will begin now.”
As she turned to gather supplies, Maverick and I exchanged a glance, my unwavering certainty threatening to crumble. With Seraphina’s guidance, we would find a way to break the bond that bound us in a strangling embrace I couldn’t tolerate. Maybe then, the freedom would allow our budding relationship to grow some roots.
The accomplished and powerful mage pointed us to a back room. “Go through there and have a seat at the table inside.”
As we shuffled through the narrow aisles, she closed her shop, turning the sign around and locking the door. The back room was dark, but we found the small, round table with three chairs pushed up against the wall, and we both sat down to wait for her. My nerves were tight, like a star about to explode.
Seraphina lit some candles around the room. She asked us both to sit with our hands over the table, palms up. We were to close our eyes and meditate.
“I’m going to do an ancient ritual that most practitioners don’t know about anymore. The ritual is described in a book that was buried under a fallen cabin in the forest of Norway. We’ll explore your souls, see how well entangled they are. Oftentimes, if a separation is desired, the weave isn’t too complex yet.”
I focused on my breathing and tried not to worry. If Seraphina advised it was likely that wanting this to happen was a good sign, I was going to believe her. She chanted some words I’d never heard before. I guessed they were Norwegian or Old Norse. The air crackled around us, but there was no other indication that anything was happening. Then Seraphina began to mumble. She hummed curiously, at first, her face twisting subtly with concentration, then she made this deep groaning noise.
I couldn’t wait anymore. If she wouldn’t offer an explanation, I would pluck it from her. “Is everything okay?”
Her eyes snapped open, her gaze searched deep, as if mining for diamonds. “It depends. Why do you want this separation?”
I curled my toes tightly in my shoes, wishing I could twist my fingers in knots just for something to distract my body from this torment. “Well, that’s kind of personal, but the truth is, I’m just not ready.”
Her lips curved into what seemed to me a cruel smirk, but her eyes brimmed with genuine concern. The jarring contradiction left me bewildered. The room seemed to close in around us, the walls almost pulsating with tension. A faint scent of incense lingered in the air, mixing with the earthy aroma of old books and aged wood.
“I see.” Her voice was a blend of warmth and gravity. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter if you are ready or not because the two of you have been bound for a very long time indeed.”
My heart stopped. The air whooshed out of the room, leaving me breathless. Time ceased as my mind convulsed like a fish on the rocky shore. “What?” I hissed, feeling a cold sweat break out across my forehead.
“Oh yes. For many generations,” she continued, her tone unwavering, almost sage-like, as if she were delivering an ancient prophecy.
“How can that be?” I exclaimed, my voice cracking with disbelief. My eyes darted to Maverick, seeking any sign of understanding, but his usually composed demeanor shattered, mirroring my shock.
“Soul mates?” Maverick asked, his voice tinged with desperation.
“No. Not soul mates. This is something different. Something far more sinister,” she replied, her words hanging heavy in the air.
“Sinister? What is it?” I squeaked, my voice scarcely louder than a breath, feeling a churning in my stomach.
She took a long, slow breath, her eyes never leaving mine. “This is… It is more like a curse.”
“A curse? We just met. Whose curse? Why?” I glanced at Maverick again, hoping for some clarity, but his eyes were plagued with as much shock, his face ashen.
“I don’t know why, but it is a soul-deep curse affecting you both.” Her voice softened slightly, as if she understood the magnitude of what she was revealing.
“Who would do such a thing?” I whined, feeling a sense of fear and helplessness wash over me .
“I don’t know. We’ll have to do a regression.” She reassured me, snapping to with an air of resolution. Her eyes now clear, she dusted her hands off and stood up.
“A past life regression?” Maverick asked, his voice barely masking the tremor of uncertainty.
“Yes,” she confirmed, nodding slowly. “We need to trace back through your soul’s journey to find the source of the curse. Only then can we hope to understand and perhaps break it.”
The room seemed to grow colder, the stuttering candlelight unsettling shapes. A shiver ran through me, not just from the chill but from the seriousness of the revelation. The incense became overpowering, and the sudden, sharp tang of dissonance pressed down on me.
Maverick reached out and took my hand, his grip firm but comforting. I wanted to pull away, but I needed the support. “We’ll get through this.” His voice was steady, though his eyes betrayed his own apprehension.
I nodded, trying to draw strength from his resolve. But I knew that whatever lay ahead would change everything, and I didn’t know which way I wanted it to go.
“We’ll follow your soul’s journey back in time until we find the source. The moment the curse took hold. I’ll try to evaluate the curse itself, and perhaps, if we watch long enough, we can gain some understanding of the context of the life your soul’s body was living back then.”
Seraphina stood up with a fluid grace, her long, dark robe whispering against the floor as she moved. She retrieved a small, ornate bowl and a bottle filled with a shimmering, iridescent liquid from a high shelf cluttered with artifacts and ancient tomes. The air seemed to thicken with anticipation, the scent of burning sage converging with the earthy aroma of aged wood and dried herbs .
She returned to the table and gestured for me to cup my hands together. As the cool, viscous liquid poured into my palms, it shimmered with an obvious, magical light, reflecting the fluttering candle flames. Seraphina dipped her finger into the liquid and began to trace bold, methodical lines down my face.
The liquid felt cool and tingly against my skin. She sketched a line down the center of my nose, the sensation sending a shiver through me. Then she traced a path from my left cheekbone down to my chin. She repeated the motion on the right side, her touch both definitive and intentional. Finally, she drew an arc across my forehead, from one temple to the other.
As the tingling on my skin grew from the lines outward to meet each other, Seraphina began to chant, her voice low and melodic, the ancient Latin words reverberating in the cramped, candle-lit room. The energy shifted into a palpable, thrumming force, pulsing with each syllable, wrapping around me. A tapestry of sound and magic that vibrated through my very soul.
With a sudden, sharp snap of energy across my shoulders, as if an invisible whip had cracked against my skin, I jolted straight. The sensation was startling, and I gasped as it traveled down my spine, a serpentine coil of power slithering between each vertebra. It spread like wildfire, both hot and cold, radiating outwards to encompass my entire back, up my neck, and over my skull.
The energy invaded my mind like fire ants, a crawling, insistent presence that burrowed into my brain. My thoughts seemed to scatter and rearrange, a kaleidoscope of fragmented memories and sensations. The room around me faded, replaced by a swirling vortex of colors and shapes. I could almost feel my soul being shoved backward through the fabric of time as Seraphina’s chant faded further and further away, as if underwater .
And then I was no longer anchored to the present or even myself. The energy coursed through me, guiding my consciousness back through the years, unraveling the threads of my past lives. Each pulse of magic drew me further and further from every comfort and familiar experience I clung to in life.
The journey was disorienting, a blur of faces, places, and emotions flashing before my eyes. The concern in Maverick’s voice, deep but muffled beside me, cut through, disturbing the path forward. “Are you okay, Tess?”
“It can be uncomfortable, but she’s fine. You must be quiet, seraphim.”
He grunted, and she continued her enchantment, the unceasing energy like continuous static electricity charging through my body.
“Don’t forget to breathe steadily, dear,” Seraphina reminded me, her voice a soothing balm amidst the turmoil.
I tried to focus on her words, drawing in deep, steady breaths, but the staggering sense of something clawing at my insides made me want to curl into a ball and beg for mercy. My body felt like it was being torn apart and reassembled in a different dimension, every nerve ending sizzling like a Fourth of July sparkler.
And then, as suddenly as it began, the sensation cleared. I found myself enveloped in a soft, ethereal haze, watching a woman, about thirty years old, curled in a ball on a dark and dusty floor. Her features were delicate but pained, her eyes filled with a lifetime of suffering. Slowly, she grew younger and younger, the background twisting and morphing through hundreds of indecipherable settings until the baby faded from view entirely.
Then another woman appeared, this one in her forties, but already haggard and surrendered. She regressed through her lifetime and disappeared. And another. The process repeated, a succession of figures emerging from the mist, each one regressing from their final moments back to their beginnings.
The air around me was thick with a strange, otherworldly fragrance, a fusion of jasmine and old parchment interwoven with a faint metallic tang. My vision was slightly blurred at the edges, as if I were peering through a veil of gossamer. Each soul was tarred with a dark, inky shadow that pulsed gently with their heartbeats. Some were women, some were men, all from progressively earlier times and places, their clothing and surroundings shifting with each transition.
Some began at younger ages than others, their lives cut short by unseen forces, while others seemed to reverse through more years, but none ever appeared elderly. Fifty was the oldest any of them could have been, their lives ending prematurely in a cycle of relentless torment.
As I watched, I began to recognize the pattern. These were not random visions, but the progression of my soul through time. Each life, each face, was trapped in a loop of misery and untimely death.
I watched each woman, and occasionally a man, from their death back through their lifetime to their birth, and then the next, from death to birth, to death to birth. It was a haunting cycle, a relentless march backward through history, showing me the inescapable fate that had plagued my soul for centuries.
The realization hit me like a physical blow. I was cursed to be miserable and die young in every lifetime, over and over again. The air grew colder as the burden of this truth settled over me. The faces before me blurred together, a tapestry of sorrow and despair woven through the ages.
The world around me spun, the soft glow of the figures echoed like candle flames in a draft. Each breath felt heavy, laden with the grief of a thousand lifetimes. The scent of jasmine grew stronger, almost suffocating, mingling with the metallic taste in my mouth. The energy that had slithered through my bones now coiled around my heart, squeezing tight.
Seraphina’s chant continued, a steady rhythm that urged us forward as we journeyed for answers, even as I was pulled through the past. I clung to the sound of her voice, anchoring myself in its familiar cadence, afraid of losing a grip of any shred of sanity that might remain. The faces of my past lives stared back at me, each one juxtaposed over the other, their eyes an amalgamation of anguish and despair, a reminder of the curse that bound us all together.
I took another deep breath, steadying myself. This was my journey, my history to uncover. As painful as it was, I knew I had to see it through to the end. Only then could I hope to break the cycle and find peace for my soul.
But who would do such a thing to me, and why? What could have possibly angered a person so much they wanted to punish me again and again and again, forever?
In the end, there were twelve souls cursed to die miserable and young before we finally reached a young woman with long dark hair, naked and injured in the forest. None of us could have been prepared for the scene before us. The events about to unfold, revealing the answers to the questions we sought, would tarnish every second of the rest of my life.