Chapter 9
nine
OPHELIA
We were waiting by the solitary confinement door when it unlocked and opened. Another door opened a ways behind us, but we were jogging down the hallway before whoever was back there could've seen us.
There was a good chance it was Jazz and River, who had also used the magic to get themselves locked in solitary overnight. But we weren't risking seeing anyone else.
Our feet were nearly silent, and the cafeteria was still empty, when we hurried past it on our way to the elevator. The hallway felt intensely long while we ran through it, but I figured that was just adrenaline.
There was no button to call the elevator down, when we reached the doors.
That was what my third piece of pottery was for.
We would only get one shot with it. If it failed, we were fucked, because it had taken me eight months to weave enough magic into that damn thing.
Dante and I were both tense as we waited at the bottom of the elevator.
Jazz and River jogged up behind us, all three pieces of pottery in my brother's arms.
"You have the magic figured out completely?" I asked River, reaching for the vase in his arms. He handed it over without hesitation.
"Assuming your magic cooperates with mine," he agreed.
That was a bold assumption. One we were just going to have to make, considering the only alternative was for me to take a mate so I could access the rest of my magic.
"You're ready to do what you have to, if there's no other choice?" Jazz asked Dante.
Fuck, that was a grim way to put it.
Dante nodded.
He'd never been the one we needed to convince about the mating thing.
All three of my companions looked at me.
I smashed the vase against the wall, so I wouldn't have to answer them.
My magic exploded around me, filling my lungs and rolling over my skin with a cool, heavy weight that I hadn't felt in a long, long time.
I turned toward the elevator as I heard it descend quickly. Counting down in my head, I followed the numbers above the doors.
-6
-7
-8
It dinged a moment later.
I tugged Dante into the elevator with me immediately. He took the plate from my brother's hands as Jazz and River stepped in too.
River handed her the bowl.
The elevator shook once, violently. My magic was clearly furious that we were fucking with the way it was supposed to function.
"Break the dishes, now," I ordered.
The demon royals smashed their pottery against the walls.
I put my hands in front of me, moving them together as I focused on the complex, woven magic. Pulling my power out of the broken plates and wrapping it around the royals to hide them from the existing magic in the elevator didn't take long.
The elevator shook heavily again, and the doors still didn't close.
I grabbed the side railing to steady myself for the next violent shake.
Someone appeared at the end of the hallway in front of us.
Oh, fuck.
My gaze jerked to my brother.
River's back was to me.
I could see the rapid, detailed weave of light he had spiraling from his hands.
He looked at me, his jaw clenched and his expression grim. He gave me a small shake of his head.
My eyes ran quickly over the light strands of magic.
It was exactly what I'd drawn for him. The same magic I'd used to hide Jazz and Dante from my power.
But it wasn't working.
My power was rejecting it.
And it was going to trap us in this fucking prison.
I reached deep into the well of power in my chest, but all I had was thin, weak threads.
Not enough.
Nowhere near enough.
Dante swung his fist into someone's face, and I bit back a gasp at the sound of flesh slamming into flesh.
Another glance at the hallway confirmed the situation.
We were fucked.
River had to leave…
Or I had to take a mate, to access more of my magic.
Fear made my throat close and my eyes sting.
There was another crack of skin on skin. Jazz, that time. Punching someone, before Dante rammed him out of the doorway with his shoulder.
People were yelling, by then. Filling the hallway. Pouring toward us.
I looked at River again, more desperately.
"I've got the door," he said.
I jerked my head in a nod, dashing away a tear that hadn't fallen.
I wouldn't cry about this.
I'd mate with Dante, get us out of my fucking prison, and we'd do what he said. Meet up to exchange blood, and nothing else.
It would have to be fine.
The elevator jostled again, just as hard as before.
Dante sent another prisoner flying out of the elevator.
River's magic finally blazed to life in the doorway, blocking the crowd on the other side. More power lit up beyond the doors as other immortals tried to channel their power into taking down River's shield.
They'd need time to do that.
Time they wouldn't have.
Jazz shoved Dante toward me, and he grabbed my arms, meeting my eyes.
Something passed between us, silently.
We'd been allies since I got there. Not really fuck buddies. Not necessarily friends, either. But definitely allies.
Being mated was going to suck, but I could've done a hell of a lot worse than Dante.
He said, looking straight at me, "If we seal a bond, we get out of here. I know the vows, but it takes two."
"This is fucking insane," I said, shaking my head and trying to swallow the lump in my throat.
He nodded.
It was fucking insane.
But he was still willing to do it.
With a shaky breath out, I took his hand. "This doesn't mean anything to either of us. We go our separate ways as soon as we're back in Rumor."
"I know."
He squeezed my hand lightly, and said the vows.
I repeated them.
The vows felt like lies, but they were magically enforceable lies.
The burst of magic that followed was softer than I expected. But the ethereal bond that exploded between us afterward, connecting our minds, was the opposite.
I could feel his worry bleeding through the flimsy divider between our minds. Whatever my jumble of emotions was, he could feel it too.
Slowly, the empty well that was my magic began to deepen. My eyes closed, and darkness wrapped around me as I breathed in power.
My power.
My hands lifted, and my weave began immediately, the strands moving together rapidly to form the fabric I'd need to hide River from the prison.
"Holy fuck, is that feeling her?" Jazz whispered.
"Yeah. Before she fell, Lia was the most powerful angel the light had ever seen. This is only a fraction of her magic," River said quietly.
Now, I was the most powerful angel the dark had ever seen. I'd just tied my magic up in the prison so I didn't have to deal with the consequences of that.
"I didn't just fall, River." I let out a soft breath, wrapping the magic around my brother before releasing it and meeting his eyes. "I jumped."
The elevator lurched one last time. My hand was no longer on the railing, but Dante grabbed me, keeping me upright.
The doors slid shut, separating us from the crowd of immortals beyond my brother's shield.
Finally, we began to rise. This time, there was no shaking. Just smooth, quiet motion.
River's gaze was dark, and still locked with mine.
"I chose to become a nightmare," I said. "Because it was the only way to get away from our dad after my brother refused to help me."
He didn't say another word.
Not until the elevator stopped on the ground floor with a pleasant ding.
Jazz was out in a heartbeat, dragging my brother behind her.
River stopped just outside the doors, pulling her closer to his side.
"For the record, I'm really fucking sorry that I believed him," he said quietly. "And if not for Jazz, I would've let myself rot in that prison for as long as you wanted me to."
I couldn't respond, so I just nodded.
River's white and silver wings unfurled behind him as he scooped his siren up off her feet. He strode through the lobby's glass doors with Jazz in his arms. The moment they were free, he took to the sky.
Dante tried to tow me out by the grip he still had on my arm, but I pulled away.
He let me go.
And I finally stepped out of the elevator.
There was a massive mess to deal with, a long way beneath my feet—but I would clean it up tomorrow.
Or the day after.
Or next year.
Whenever I was strong enough to manage it.
Which was going to be much sooner than I'd thought, now that I had some power again.
Or maybe it would be much later. Because I also now had a vampire mate who would depend on me for blood (and hopefully nothing else) for the rest of our immortal lives.
There were people at the desk in the lobby, but they recognized me from when I'd gone in. One tossed me my car keys. I didn't manage to catch them, but I picked them up off the floor, suddenly exhausted in every way there was.
"What happened to you?" Dante asked, his voice low.
He didn't need to provide any more context. The question was clearly about me and River.
There was no point in hiding the truth. Not from Dante. Not anymore. Our fucking souls were connected, and River was mated to one of his best friends on top of it. Someone was going to tell him the truth. Might as well be me.
"Our dad abused me my whole life, in pretty much every way.
River was older, and didn't live with us.
I didn't see him often. Only a few times a year.
When I was a teenager and finally got up the nerve to ask him for help, he didn't believe me.
The next time I spoke up, it went to an angelic court.
They declared me unstable for making the accusation at all. "
I gave Dante a small, unamused smile. "They refused to investigate because of his political position, and put me completely under his control due to insanity. Falling was my only way out. I fell, I broke out, and I came to Rumor. It was being built around then, and was all over the news."
"When I got here, I went to Merrily Fall for help.
She killed my father for me, after he followed me to the city.
I built the prison for him before that, but it wasn't done in time.
When River followed my dad here, I threw him in the penitentiary instead.
Haven't really done relationships of any kind since then. "
Dante stared at me.
Just stared. Like he didn't know what to say.