Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
The evil attached to Lovett Manor was a suffocating darkness, slowly devouring and eroding any light left in her soul. Days crawled by, and Charlotte discovered time still existed, even though she had believed death erased its passage.
Her uncle’s and cousin’s souls pushed up against hers in the prison behind the mirror, an endless void filled with demonic beings, many of whom appeared as shadow figures with glowing eyes, except for one, a tall man with a chalky appearance, black eyes, wearing a suit and top hat.
Her uncle eyed her, tilting his head, flaring his nostrils.
He likely thought it was justice, that she ended up in there with them.
In a way, it was poetic how things turned out.
Supposedly, when dark magic is used to harm others, it always comes back worse on the caster, although if that were true, then why did a demon win?
Her cousin glared at her through darkening eyes.
The only respite from his presence was that they could not speak to each other, not even in their minds.
However, she didn’t need that to know the horrid things they were thinking about her.
Especially when they came too close, her family’s souls pushing into hers—the only thing they could do to her to cause any discomfort.
Any guilt she’d held for them was long gone. While she couldn’t hear them, she could sense their desire to devour anything innocent. The evil they held while alive followed them into death, and it was growing each day.
She had a lot of time to think on the other side, trapped in limbo with her uncle and cousin, whose hate rippled beyond the dark shadows of the endless void. Her life had ended while she was waiting for it to begin and the only thing that followed her into death was the bitter sting of regret.
There was so much she had wanted to do outside of the expectations that had been placed on her such as building an animal sanctuary to help the local, wounded wildlife.
She’d often dreamed of traveling too. She hadn’t seen much of England, let alone any part of the world outside of it.
Now, she was confined to one place for the rest of eternity.
After all the talk of mortality, none of it mattered.
The soul never died and now, just like the vampires, she was forever bound, but without the ability to live a life.
After all the tragedy, she was so close to feeling happy again, but now it was all gone.
After curling herself into a ball, hiding in a shadow, haunted by the hollowness there, she decided to leave the mirror again.
Slowly, she rose to her feet, always cold now, and soul slowly withering under the oppressive energy surrounding her.
She’d only left the mirror once, discovering they could leave for a mere hour or two, as long as they remained within the confines of the property, before the curse would drag them back.
She left the attic and ambled through the familiar dark corridors. The wood groaned in the settling walls, and the moth-eaten drapes swayed in her presence. The silhouette of one of the demons detached from darkness, taking shape in the corner of her eye.
All she could think about was Duke and Nathaniel and the desperation to see them again, if only for a moment. Her feet glided over the musty carpet, while a thick layer of mist clung to everything when she heard a familiar sound—her own voice.
She floated down the stairs and into the gray foyer. Thunder rumbled outside, rain hammering down as Nathaniel, Alexander and Delanie, in her immortal body, stood in the open doorway.
Nathaniel took her coat, his gaze softening when he looked into the demon’s eyes.
No.
How could he think that was her?
Her long, dark curls were tied into a tight bun, and an orange dress wrapped around her body.
While it still looked like her, the expressions were all wrong and her eyes were different.
Those green irises she’d seen in every reflection for years brimmed with a void that needled her through the veil.
Her lips tipped into a smirk and Charlotte gasped.
Delanie could see her.
Nausea swirled in her stomach when she saw Katherine walk in behind them. How could she possibly have been forgiven? Unless, Delanie had, and persuaded Nathaniel to let her live.
Were they working together?
They walked inside, Alexander smiling and hung his coat and hat on the rack. “It’s raining cats and dogs out there.”
Delanie glanced at Charlotte, before quickly averting her eyes and looking at Nathaniel. “Shall we go to our bedroom?”
Nathaniel pressed a kiss to her temple, eliciting a silent scream from Charlotte’s ghost who watched helplessly. His low voice grumbled into the demon’s ear. “Later,” he promised, and took a step back. “Why don’t you rest? Alexander and I will find us dinner.”
Charlotte ran to them, pushing her hands against his chest, but they went right through him.
Please open your eyes. See what’s happening.
She watched, defeated, as Delanie grinned. “I don’t mind hunting for our food.”
Nathaniel's dark brows shot up his forehead, his hands diving into his pockets. “I assumed you would not enjoy that part.”
Delanie inhaled sharply, her eyes tracking Charlotte in her periphery vision. “I should embrace what I have become, no?” When Nathaniel grimaced, she quickly cleared her throat and added, “Maybe I do need some rest. It has been a long day.”
Katherine walked beside her and said, “You can show me around this big house while they hunt.”
The mirror’s pull dragged her back just as Nathaniel squeezed Delanie’s arm. She was only glad he did not kiss her on the mouth. The thought was too much to handle.
Tearless cries wrenched her body as she was sucked through the manor and back into the darkness of the mirror.
A few hours later, a hollow tapping sounded in the mirror, making her jump.
The souls of her uncle and cousin pressed themselves up against the glass, but she pushed herself beside them when she heard her name.
“Charlotte?”
Nathaniel’s solemn face appeared on the other side of the glass, his fingertips caressing the metal roses on the ornate, silver frame.
Hope swelled in her heart, a desperate cry lost to the soundless void of the Realm of the Dead.
“I know you’re in there,” he said. “I’m going to get you out. I promise. Just hold on for me a little longer. I won’t give up on you.”
She watched him bow his head, letting out a prolonged, heartbroken sigh. He knew! He realized it wasn’t her soul in her body.
Despite knowing he couldn’t see her, she brought her hand up to the other side of the glass, anyway.
I miss you. She repeated the words in her head, hoping they could cross through the bond, but that had broken the moment she was killed.
The demons were getting impatient. Every lost soul haunting the void behind the mirror waited for Nathaniel’s return, including her uncle and cousin.
Charlotte watched with bated breath. If he opened the mirror, then they might all be able to climb out before she had a chance.
Desperate to get away from the sharp buzz of energy zapping through the evil, she crawled out between shadowy silhouettes and landed on the floorboards.
Her energy drained quickly, but she didn’t plan on going far.
Just being out of that dark void was enough.
The darkness inside of their crawled over her skin.
She could sense their desires. Demons were twisted beings and the ones imprisoned in that mirror were the worst of them all.
If they got out, then no one would be safe.
Duke’s meow jolted through her. Feline yellow eyes spotted Charlotte through the veil. Duke meowed when she reached him, and ghosted her fingers over his fur, which stood on end at her touch.
Dust motes floated in the orange hue of the candlestick as Nathaniel climbed inside, his sharp jaw clenching when he looked around at the stacks of old books and fading portraits.
Nathaniel looked right through her, but her familiar’s loud meow halted him before he could reach the mirror.
“Is she here?” he asked, kneeling to stroke Duke between his ears.
Duke meowed again, this time louder, his tail flicking in the air.
“Where?”
Nathaniel tracked his eyes to her ghost, and he stood, his expression crumpling.
“I am so sorry, love. I am, but I’m here now and we have a plan.
Katherine is going to help us. I found her brother, held captive by the Avery witches,” he explained, as if sensing her protest from the other side. “She will do what we ask.”
A loud creak sounded behind him. Katherine pulled her way up the ladder, and climbed onto the floor on all fours, before standing and brushing the dust from her dress.
The temperature immediately dropped several degrees as rage coursed through Charlotte’s body. That treacherous cow.
She raked her fingers through her golden curls, catching her breath. “Is she here?”
“Yes.”
Katherine eyed Duke. “I assume he led you here.”
“Not the first time. I could feel her.”
Her lashes flickered. “The bond is broken.”
“I don’t need any damned bond to feel her. I know she is here.”
“Are you certain?” Katherine asked, her upper lip twitching.
“I could tell the moment I saw her beautiful green eyes, that it was not my Charlotte,” he stated, and her heart swelled.
Charlotte’s fingers whispered over the nape of his neck, and he shivered under the touch. “Is that you, love?” She touched him again, and his brows pinched together, his forehead wrinkling horizontal lines.
Katherine rolled her eyes and let out a weighty sigh, only turning her head when Alexander ascended the ladder behind her.
“I am disappointed in you the most, Alexander,” she said, turning to face him. “I’m forced into being here, but you’re willing to go to all this trouble for some girl he got his cock wet for.”
In a blur, Nathaniel’s hand was around her throat, pinning her to the wall, her head angled under the low, slanted ceiling. “One more word from your mouth, and I will tear out your wretched tongue. Understood?”
She nodded and he released her, her legs crumpling beneath her as she landed with a thud. Spluttering and coughing, she stood, brushing the dust from her purple gown. “Now get on with it, before that thing possessing my beloved’s body wakes up and discovers us up here.”
“It’s not as easy as that,” Katherine remarked.
“If you want to see your brother again, you will find a way.”
Alexander subtly shook his head in Katherine’s direction when she opened her mouth to protest, and Charlotte noticed the way Nathaniel’s eyes darkened, untamed power shimmering behind them.
“That mirror,” she said, pointing at the glass, “is locked with blood magic. Only a witch in her bloodline can unlock it, and the demon controlling her body isn’t going to do it.”
Alexander strode to the oval frame, running his fingers over the ornate metal. “What about an exorcism?”
Her brows rose. “You cannot be serious.”
“Mirrors have been used for centuries to trap demons. This one should be no different. If anything, it would be more powerful.”
“It will not help her escape,” Nathaniel stated.
“Portals go both ways,” Alexander pointed out. “If Katherine can find a spell to temporarily open it, as a portal to allow the demon through, then Charlotte can escape and come back to her body.
Katherine shook her head. “It’s not just her in there. It’s a prison for a reason. There are demons in here and if they get ou—”
“I don’t care,” Nathaniel stated harshly. “Unleash Hell on Earth if you must. Just do what you must. What do you need?”
“The name of the demon,” Katherine stated.
It’s Delanie! Delanie Lysanmore.
Charlotte yelled the name repeatedly in her mind, but it didn’t reach them. Only Duke watched her, his tail flicking as she tried to get the name across to them.
“I’ll also need candles, the Lysanmore grimoires from Sallow Manor, restraints infused with rosemary, and most importantly,” Katherine said, her voice lowering to a whisper, “You’re going to have to get that demon up into the attic and tie her up.”