42. Cassandra Walker
After the ceremony, we had a mini photoshoot in Iris’s garden so I could get my Instagram announcement picture.
I let Theo choose the one she thought I should post, and her cheeks turned that delicious pink color I was becoming more and more obsessed with every day.
The picture she ended up choosing was one of us smiling at each other moments before our lips touched. Theo’s hand was cupping my face as she cradled my waist, and we looked deliriously happy.
The notifications started coming in immediately. The post hadn’t been up for even a minute, and it was at a thousand likes and counting.
‘Now the whole world knows that she is ours,’ my beast preened.
I glanced up to see that Theo had wandered over to where Callum was enthusiastically barbequing dinner for everyone in his obituary apron.
They were both smiling, and Theo was holding a bottle of water loosely at her side as she laughed at something Cal said.
Mine.
“Her aura is lighter today than it has been in years.”
I blinked, turning away from the happy scene before me, to find that Iris had appeared at my side.
She was watching her daughter with an unusually somber expression.
“She is yours now. To protect. Perhaps you can do a better job than I have.”
That was… a weird thing to say.
But I guess that was pretty on brand for Iris. Almost everything she said was pretty weird.
“What do you mean? You gave Ryan and Theo a great childhood,” I pointed out.
I mean. I thought she had, at least. Though I was sure my idea of what a ‘great childhood’ looked like was probably pretty skewed.
The bar was in literal hell for me… so…
Iris turned to look at me, her delicate features tight with concern.
“Perhaps. But Theodora is not like her brother. Ryan is an open book. I have always been able to see his path… Theo… she closed herself off from me at a very young age. When I look at her, all I see is darkness, and she will not tell me where the darkness stems from.”
Ugh.
I loved Iris, don’t get me wrong, but she always lost me with all the witchy shit. It’s not that I didn’t believe she truly was some sort of witch… She was too on the nose about some things for me not to believe she was the real deal… I just… had a hard time understanding any of it.
‘Ask her about the cotton sticks,’ my demon reminded me, and I nodded, spinning my new, blood red wedding ring on my finger in agitation.
“Hey, so, Theo had a Q-Tip in her pocket today… It’s not the first time I’ve seen her with them. You have any idea what that’s about?”
Iris glanced at me, and a knowing smile curled on her lips.
“You and your monster are very observant.”
I almost physically recoiled at the fact that she seemed to know about my monster, and the beast in my chest chuckled.
‘She is a delight,’ my beast purred, and I tried not to outwardly scowl.
“They acted as a talisman of sorts. It was one of my and her father’s earlier tactics to help her dispel the darkness that seemed to consume her. She was meant to wave them like a wand, and think about three good things, to keep the darkness at bay…”
Okay, that was cute as fuck.
“And you think she’s still using them as… magic wands?”
Iris nodded, pursing her lips.
“Yes, but… it was never meant to be a permanent solution. I’d hoped in time she would open up more and we could work together to find her something stronger… but she only became more withdrawn.”
“Stronger? Like… Stronger how?”
“In all ways. The talisman itself is temporary and flimsy in nature… but even the incantation doesn’t seem to be strong enough for whatever haunts her.
The darkness just tears through whatever goodness she’s able to conjure in her mind.
Sometimes, she’s so consumed by the darkness she can’t even think of something good enough to help her at all. ”
“Why don’t you give her a new talisman thing then or whatever!?” I snapped, feeling panicked and furious that some magic bullshit seemed to be hurting my… hurting my Theo, and I didn’t know how to protect her from it.
Iris gave me a sad look and laid her hand gently on my arm.
“Her father was the one to give her the cotton swabs. They were very close before he died. I thought it would be received better coming from him. But now… Now she’s attached to them because they came from him. I do not think she would accept a replacement at this time.”
My mind was whirling.
I may not be into this magic bullshit, but if Theo needed some stupid Q-Tip to help her, then I was about to get into magic real fucking quick.
“What would make it stronger? Like, what’s the strongest material possible?” I asked abruptly, and Iris stared at me, her eyes shining with something I didn’t understand.
It made my heart feel warm, and my throat tickled a bit, and I hated it.
“Silver would be much stronger. It is a sacred alloy with very powerful protective properties. It acts as a mirror of sorts, and can literally reflect negative energy and psychic attacks.”
I nodded firmly, a plan already forming in my mind.
“Got it. Silver… I’m on it…” I was already whipping out my phone to text Alyssa so I wouldn’t forget this very important task, when Iris touched my arm again, drawing my attention back to her.
“A silver talisman will not be enough, Cassandra. She needs someone to help her fight the demons that live in her heart, or she will never heal. The talisman is a weapon… a tool. But if she doesn’t know how to wield it, then it is just another useless charm taking up space in her pockets.”
My monster let out a low, humming growl at her words, and I felt a cold, humorless smile spread across my face.
Iris already seemed to know about the evil thing that lived inside me, so for the first time in my life, I intentionally let it peek out from behind the bars of its cage so she could really see it.
“I have a monster living inside me, too, Iris,” I hummed, leaning in close to her ear so my voice wouldn’t carry. “And my monster has been begging me to let it kill something for a very long time.”
I pulled back to find Iris giving me an almost desperate look of hope. Her fingers curled around my arm. She looked deep into my eyes, and I knew she wasn’t speaking to me, but the thing that lived inside my chest.
“I hope when you find whatever has been hurting my daughter, that you make it bleed,” Iris whispered, and my monster smiled in my mind’s eye, flashing rows and rows of razor-sharp teeth.
‘Do not worry, little witch. I will make her darkness scream,’ it promised, and for the first time since I’d pleaded with my beast to help me slit my mother’s throat, I was glad to share my body with it.