Chapter 32 #2
“M-my apologies,” he stammered, distraught.
“It’s just… I didn’t think she was actually alive, you see.
I saw her at the party, but some part of me still assumed it was all a lie.
She was masked, I was mistaken that I’d seen her, and that she was still dead.
I’d convinced myself that was the truth. Can you blame me? It’s a miracle.”
“It’s not a miracle. It’s the touch of a god.” Elric didn’t move. It was hard to even see his lips moving, yet alone the breath in his lungs. All of it made him appear otherworldly, like a statue speaking rather than a flesh-and-blood man. “My touch, mortal. Do not try to erase it.”
Was this… jealousy?
Was Elric jealous that Alexander had hugged her? There was a vibration of violence around him she’d never felt before, a sensation that if she even took a step in the wrong direction, he’d kill the young man without thinking. Alexander’s death would be on her hands, just like so many others.
So she didn’t step toward the young man. Instead, she took a large step back, toward the enraged god. “Alexander, I believe you’ve met Elric.”
“Elric?” Alexander looked between the two of them, suspicion in every line on his face. “I thought your name was Martin?”
“Oh.” She exhaled. “You don’t know who he is.”
“I don’t know where I am, Jessa. He told me to come to Rose Street, but this house is known to be haunted.
There shouldn’t be people here at all, and now I know that you were actually here, that you were actually alive, and I…
” He ran his fingers through his hair and shrugged.
“I can’t stand by him anymore. Not when he’s killing innocent people and his own wife. ”
She didn’t give Elric a chance to reply. Jessamine could feel her face curl into a snarl as she spat at him, “It took you months to be angry at him for killing me. Let’s not lie. If I were actually dead, you would still be at his side.”
Alexander’s face paled. “You don’t know what he’s capable of, Jessa.
I know you think he’s a fool. I did, too.
But there’s something different about him lately.
Something that’s set all of us on edge. I don’t know what is changing, but it’s going to be bad.
You saw what they did to everyone at that party.
You saw what influence she has had on him. ”
“Fortuna? That’s the woman you speak of?”
“Yes. That bitch sank her claws into my brother, and suddenly he’s spouting religion.
He’s sending sacrifices to dead gods and bringing bodies into the house with us.
Our father’s house is dripping with blood and corpses.
” Alexander pressed the back of his hand to his mouth and started pacing.
“I don’t know what his plan is or what he’s going to do, but I heard the rumors that you had survived coming from the Factory District, and something in me snapped.
I knew I could not stay with him any longer. ”
“Alexander.”
“There is so much going on that I had no idea about. I buried my head in the sand for too long. I was all too pleased to accept that my place was by his side because I was important to him. But he’s been asking for stranger and stranger things, Jessa.
Just two days ago, he asked me for blood.
My blood. He wanted me to drain it into a cup, and when I told him no, there was a moment when I thought he might make me. ”
She took a step closer to him, ignoring Elric’s warning growl. “Alexander, I need you to listen to me.”
“I don’t know what he has up his sleeve, but it’s not good.
Killing another royal family is evil. It’s bone deep in him now, Jessamine, and I don’t think there’s any way to save him.
He’s my brother. I’m supposed to do whatever it takes to keep him and our family line safe.
But I…” He looked at her with ghosts in his eyes. “I think he’s too far gone.”
“Are you finally listening to me?”
He nodded.
“Look at me, Alexander. And then look at the man behind me. You don’t recognize him, but you should. You prayed to him in secret back then, hoping for someone, anyone, to hear you. I remember catching you in the chapel and how embarrassed you were. Have you forgotten, Alexander Bishop?”
She watched his eyes flicker over her. Really looking for the first time since they’d walked into the room.
His eyes lingered on the silver scar at her throat, then shifted to her wild hair, like a crown of shadows itself, and the aura of magic that she knew followed her now.
And then he looked at Elric. Really looked.
She knew what he was seeing. A dark figure cloaked in shadows, not a figment of illusion or happenstance, but because those shadows were him. Shadows that moved through and with him, creating a figure that was so much more than just darkness. He was the stuff legends were made of.
Alexander took one step back, shaking his head in disbelief. “No. That’s not possible.”
The shadows around Elric’s mouth split, revealing a sinister smile. “If you worshipped at my feet, boy, you should have known I wouldn’t stay gone for very long.”
Again, Alexander shook his head. He continued backing away until he hit the cot and sank down onto it. “But…” He looked away from Elric and then to her. “But that means you’re a witch…”
Jessamine squared her shoulders, perfect posture giving her a little more confidence than she felt at this moment. “Oh, I’m so much more than that, Alexander.”
“And you’re…” He lifted a shaking hand to point at Elric.
“I am the god-born rancor that will cleanse this kingdom. I am the claws in the shadows at night, and the drifting bitter wind. I am the Deathless One, and your prayers have been answered.” Elric moved then, so quickly mere mortals couldn’t track him, and suddenly he stood in front of her, blocking Alexander from her sight.
She soon saw why. Elric’s power spread around him, his wings so wide and dripping with ink. Pulses of magic seared through them like little lightning strikes in a starless night sky. No beauty, only harsh, ragged edges and thunderous magic.
“Alexander Bishop, you will atone for your brother’s transgressions. You will stay here, and while I will not make you suffer in his place, you will provide us with all the details you know about the man we call Leon Bishop and the demon he is becoming.”
She heard Alexander swallow. And then, as she peered beneath Elric’s arm, she saw the young man fall to his knees before the sight of his god.
“I will serve you in whatever way you wish,” he vowed. “My lord and liege.”