“You will be safe wherever the moon touches.” A decades-old memory, but her words still float into my mind as if she’d told them to me every day of my life.
Rosie eyes the moon with utter hatred. “You can’t hide in there forever, Serena. Eventually the sun will come up, and you will have to come out.” Her eyes hold a dark glint as she paces along the outside of the halo like a wild animal stalking her prey.
For hours they continue to taunt me, telling me how they plan on killing me, giving me the details on how they killed every single one of our classmates. And their excitement only grows as the sun begins to rise and the moon begins to set.
As the sky brightens, I feel their powers swirling in the air around me, reaching, testing whether it’s safe. And it is—the last of my shield fades away with the first ray of dawn.
“Come on, Serena. You always were one to back down when it came time to really hurt someone. You never enjoyed it as much as we did, but now I guess you won’t have to.” Micah strides toward me and the others follow.
Fire licks from his hands and forms a long whip that he uses to strike out at me. It sears the grass, and I scramble away when it catches one of the roots encasing me, setting it alight. Micah laughs and continues his assault, but my powers remain frozen, unwilling to be used on someone I call a friend—once called a friend.
He lashes out again, and this time, the whip catches my arm. I let out a screech and stare down at my bubbling, blistering skin.
“Fight back, Serena!” Eli says. “Don’t make this boring for us.”
“Serena, you need to protect yourself or you will be killed. Use the power I gifted you, child. Save yourself!” My goddess’s voice urges.
“Okay,” I whisper.
Tears slip from my eyes as I hold my hands out before me. Eli, Rosie, Micah, and Cassidy all pause to watch the green glow that erupts from my palms. Four, flickering balls form, and for the first time, I sense doubt in Eli’s eyes.
“What… what is that?”
I push the balls outward in one quick motion and they fly into my opponent’s chests. They look down at themselves, then up to me, first shocked, then smug.
“Guess your little trick didn’t work,” Rosie says.
They advance again, and as they do, I speak: “I curse you to relive every blow you’ve dealt, every amount of pain you’ve inflicted, every death you’ve caused. Only then shall you find peace in your own deaths.”
I want to look away as their eyes widen; I want to cover my eyes as screams rips from their throats. But I do neither of those things. If I’m to kill, then I deserve to watch them die. It’s my punishment.
“Look away, Serena. You do not need to watch this.”
“No!” I turn my anger, my sorrow to the sky. “This is your fault! Because of you, I’m a monster.”
“Serena, don’t—”
“Leave me alone!”
Phantom knives slash at their skin; invisible hands pull at their hair. Blood trickles from their wounds, watering the earth until it is soft, red mud. Eli falls, writhing against the forces that strike him until he vomits. Rosie falls into a heap, her head only hanging on by a thread of skin at her neck. Micah’s eyes find mine, remorseful and pained, before he too succumbs to the ghosts wreaking revenge on his body. And finally, Cassidy is still.
The sun is high above us as their souls finally leave their bodies, and I sink to my knees, trembling at all I’ve caused. Their lifeless, horror-contorted faces stare back at me. All is quiet inside my mind.
I’m a monster.
My eyes snap open, and I sit up with a gasp. A light breeze from my open window blows inside, chilling the sweat beading on my skin. The adrenaline rushing through my veins begins to slow as I fist my tangled sheets in my hand, slowly remembering where I am.
Academy of the Light.
House.
Bed.
I focus on the objects around the room, saying their names until I truly believe I’m there and not in the Forest. A fluttering of wings draws my attention as Lore lands on the end of the bed.
“Mistress?” her voice quivers in my mind, and I see the horror reflected in her eyes.
“You saw, didn’t you?” I ask, and I close my eyes, waiting for her disgust.
But I don’t feel that. Instead, her love and compassion floods my system and tears prick my eyes from behind their lids, and I draw in a shaky breath.
“You have nothing to be sorry for, Mistress. What happened… what you had to do wasn’t your fault. And I’m sorry I didn’t close off our bond, but I…” She trails off as she eyes me guiltily. “I wanted to make sure you were okay. You barely sleep. You barely eat. And when you’re awake, you get this haunted look in your eyes; it’s like you’re not really here.”
She hops over to me, and I stroke her feathers, loving how soft they feel under my fingers. “Every day, Lore. Every day I relive that moment; it’s like I’m there, experiencing it all over again. It never stops.”
A soft purr draws my attention as Keaira jumps onto the bed and snuggles up to my thigh; my lips twitch at Lore’s annoyance, and her muttered words in my mind.
Keaira purrs into my hand as she snuggles back down, and I continue to stroke her until the racing in my chest doesn’t feel like a herd of wild horses stampeding across a deserted field.
“Mistress, if you’re ready, we must get going,” Lore says gently. “The guards are changing over. We only have a small window of opportunity.”
“Right,” I whisper. Gently
