Chapter 97 Nikolai
Nikolai
This is it. The end I never thought I’d reach. I’ve spent years searching for the mythical relic, never quite expecting to actually find it. But the pull of the amulet—the power—can’t be denied. It’s not just an amulet, it’s a relic. Ancient magic.
Mesmerized, I stare at it. The glass glitters at the end of a thin chain, only as large as my palm, yet it reflects galaxies of deep, royal purple that seem to shift and glow.
It shines brighter the closer I get, humming louder, swinging gently.
Its hum drowns out the guilt of Taera’s pleas.
If only she could see how close I am to becoming the version of me she deserves.
This is everything I’ve wanted, that I’ve searched for. So why am I hesitating?
The room is perfectly quiet. My mirror image is gone, the illusion I’m relieved to lose, but I’m on edge without my facade. I fix my gaze on the amulet, knowing that every other surface will reflect the horrors of who I used to be and why I have to do this.
Then, I hear its voice.
“Only one may claim me. Only one may channel my power.” The voice is luscious, low, almost a purr. It vibrates through me, drawing a shiver of pleasure up my spine at its promise. The voice of the relic. My eyes widen with awe.
I take the final step forward.
“Will you take me?” it murmurs, its voice like that first aching sip of water after a long thirst. Never quite enough. “It’s been so long.”
It has. It’s been too long. The time for doubt has passed.
Magic quivers the air as I reach for it. The humming intensifies like dozens of windchimes, sucking me in like quicksand.
I’m about to take my first true breath of power.
“Take me,” it whispers, as though it aches for me as much as I ache to claim its power. To become everything I’ve dreamed of.
My fingers tremble with proximity, its mere aura promising a bottomless well to drink from.
A scream pierces the room, echoing painfully in my ears.
I don’t turn around.
I can’t.
“It doesn’t matter,” the amulet promises, and I believe it. I’ve never known such sweet truth.
Except, I recognized the scream. I try to wake from the dream, but I no longer remember what awake feels like.
I once knew that sound.
“Just take me,” the amulet urges, dragging me back under. The glass glitters, and I can’t see anything else, can’t draw my eyes away from the one thing that matters. The one thing that’s always mattered—
Taera.
I freeze, my hand hesitating just inches away.
I don’t remember the name. But the thought of it drags a myriad of emotions through me: aching need, pain, self-denial. Why would I deny myself something I crave more than breath itself?
I can’t remember.
“This is your last chance,” the relic promises.
Beneath those words coils a dark, devastating threat.
It’s the power meant for me, the power I worked for years to unearth, to earn, to discover.
I have to take it now. If I don’t, I’ll never become who I’m meant to be.
The destiny the desert has always dangled just out of my reach, just too far away to grasp, until—until—
Taera.
Her scream.
Horror floods my senses, shattering my reverie, and I draw a sharp, cold breath, jerking my hand back.
I try to drag my eyes from the amulet, but they fix on it like the only light in the dark.
My heart rushes into a panic as I stare down my own weakness, unable to look away.
This relic is everything. Everything. Every struggle, every lie, it was for this.
Once, it was for Hazel. Once, I would have torn my soul to pieces and sewn it into a blanket if it would have kept her warm.
But that was then. Now, I’m falling into this relic like a drunken man toward drink, needing more—something stronger.
This is the only wine in the world that can quench my need.
Except I need Taera more.
I shove my shoulders around, swiveling my entire body with such force that my gaze rips from the amulet and I’m free to see her.
To see a nightmare.
Blood glass devours her, her eyes already closed as the crystals greedily climb her thin arms, encircling her neck. Draining her magic.
“No!” I leap to Taera’s side. The nauseating sedation of the relic’s pull finally snaps.
I slam my shoulder into the crystals wrapping their way up and around her limbs, shoving all my weight into the one brutal motion.
The blood glass shatters and regroups, but I grab at the shards—ignoring the way it stings and tears my skin—and break off piece after piece to slow its progress.
I kick the bottom chunks free from around her feet.
Taera wobbles without their support, and I can finally lift her free.
Scooping up the most precious person in the world, I carry her to the only clear patch of ground—inside the geode. Her skin is icy and quiet against mine, without the faintest tingle of magic left between us. Her face is ashen, and she’s barely breathing.
“Don’t you dare leave me.” My voice comes out halfway between a sob and a roar. I empty my pockets, shoveling out amulets and dumping them into her clammy hands. None of them light up; none spark.
“Taera, please.” I pile more amulets over her, clasping her shoulders, shaking her. Pressing my forehead to hers, I can’t hear the hum of magic above my own pounding heart.
“Please,” I whisper again, begging her. With Taera’s limp body in my arms, I’m an empty vessel, the hollow mask I’ve carved myself into.
“She’s gone,” murmurs a syrupy voice in the back of my head. “Come back to me.”
I stiffen. I can’t even comprehend the words. My stomach churns in revolt, like I’m trying to swallow poison.
I’m no longer empty.
Deep inside my chest, rage ignites. Blazing and devouring every thought. I can’t move, my muscles shaking. I will destroy it for those vile words, for suggesting I would ever—could ever—let go of Taera.
I gave up everything for this power, a power that would throw Taera aside. This is my doing.
The horror crushes the air out of my lungs. I can’t breathe—can’t see—beneath the raw, blinding hatred.
I took everything from her. I dragged up the power of the ancients to sate my own twisted cravings, and she paid the price. The same price as her mother. As Hazel.
I rip myself away. My very touch will contaminate her. I don’t deserve the comfort of getting to care for her. I never deserved her—will never deserve her. She should never have come after me. I shouldn’t have let her. And now her fate—
I freeze. My craving for the amulet’s power has rotted my soul, but not hers. A glimmer of hope sneaks in, a glimpse of light I don’t deserve, but she does.
I lunge to my feet, scampering across the floor and grabbing the ancient amulet by the chain.
“No—” the pulsing power growls against my grip, resisting.
I roar, dragging it back across the room to shove it into Taera’s hand.
“Not a source! I should be wielded by the highest conduit!”
“Give her your magic.” I curl her cold fingers around the amulet and wrap both of my hands around hers and squeeze. I don’t know if it’s enough—don’t know if it’s already too late.
Her hands twitch and thrash, like the amulet is physically trying to escape her grasp.
Good. Let it fight. Let there still be hope for her.
The relic’s resistance spurs me on. I grit my teeth, forcing it still.
Please.
“Only one can claim me,” the voice snarls. “It should be you. You have no idea what we would—”
“Save her!” I roar.
Light bursts between Taera’s fingers, and she gasps, arching off the floor.