Pretty Spelled by K.A Knight

 

Atlas

Ican hear them all upstairs—their laughter, their conversations. I would say it feels like being home again, but that would be wrong. There was never any laughter in our home as children. The only time we enjoyed our lives was when we were away from our parents and together…when I was with her.

My brothers all have their mates, but my mate is out there alone, trapped, and scared.

I lost her once, I won’t lose her again.

I know they are all trying to make me aware of what they think needs to happen, but I will never, never,kill my mate.

I’ll save you, Lils, even if it means dying myself to doit. I left you once, I didn’t protect you…didn’t save you, and that will never happen again.I have waited centuries to be with you again. In this life or the next, it will happen.

Sitting on the sofa, I lean forward, my gaze caught on the cage. It’s here for a reason, after all. I’ve spent the last year hunting my mate, but I’ve also been researching and preparing. My brothers may be quick to give up on Lilith, but I’m not. If anyone can survive this, can fight this, it’s my little human…though I can’t call her that any longer.

Scrubbing my face, I lean back, letting my head drop to the sofa and closing my eyes as I try to remember her laughter, her smile, her smell, but it’s been so long. No matter how hard I tried to hold onto those memories, to tighten my grasp on them, they became like smoke slipping through my fingers until I could barely remember. It seems I only see my love in my dreams. Automatically, my hand goes to my pocket and pulls out the stone, smooth from years of touch, as I turn it over and over in my palm. The crudely carved drawing is fading away after the centuries. She gave it to me when we were teenagers, she said it was her heart…that I would always have it.

That it belonged to me.

Back then, I tried to push her away to protect her from my life, and even then, she insisted I was hers and she was mine. She was so sure of us being together, believed we were meant to be. She didn’t care what I or anyone said, she gave her love willingly to me. She was always strong, so sure, so kind…and look what they have done to her.

They corrupted my wildflower.

Darkened her petals.

Wilted her glow until only the gnarled roots remain.

She saved me once, and now it’s my turn to save her.

I’m coming for you, wildflower.

Oh, Attie, always fighting until the end, the echo purrs, the voice female and also different, darker.

I spin around in the smoky darkness, searching for the source.“Lils?” I call.

Laughter echoes all around me, and I spin faster with a snarl, calling on my magic, but it doesn’t come, I’m human.

The laughter grows louder. “Here, we are both human,” she whispers. “Poor little fallen god, even after all these years, you still love her. The little human who followed you around like a lost puppy. If only you had noticed, if only you had loved her back…maybe you could have saved her from me.”

“Show yourself!” I demand, and a touch caresses my neck, making me whirl. I know now this is a dream space for her to get into my mind. She must be very powerful indeed.

“Yes, powerful, the darkness is mine, as are the troubled thoughts in your head…but all I had to do was follow that fraying thread linking my vessel and you. It’s pathetic, really, how hard she fought to hold onto you, to stay with you. That’s why she did it, you know. That’s why she begged and screamed for help, because she thought you needed her.”

“She was right,” I reply.

“Was she, Attie?”

“Don’t call me that! Only she gets to call me that!” I roar, and she laughs again before she appears before me. It’s my Lils with a smile on her face, her eyes lit up in happiness. I reach for her, but my feet are stuck, and no matter how much I struggle, I can’t get to her. Her mouth opens in a silent scream as flames fill her eyes and climb across her body, and with another horrified cry, she disappears into smoke, and before me is the Lilith of today. Black eyes, evil smile.

“She’s still fighting to protect all of you…to save you from what she has become. She won’t succeed. Before the year is through, your blood will fill my goblet, and I will be free to watch this world burn.” She laughs and drags her nails down my face as she appears before me. My body is frozen. All I can move are my eyes. She leans in and ghosts her lips across mine, so cold and wet like a snake. Not like the warmth and happiness of my first and only kiss with my mate. “I’ll be seeing you soon, lover.”

Then she disappears, and I’m left screaming into the void.

Lilith!