Pretty Spelled by K.A Knight
Lilith
She stands in the dark before the throne, glaring as we feel them walk through the mist. When they appear in her throne room, she flicks her fingers, lighting the pits. The flames soar to the roof, casting shadows around the room and giving it an eerie atmosphere. They stop then, looking around, but I sense no fear.
Only resolve.
They stand in a line with Attie at the front, wearing nothing but jeans and blood. His bare head glistens in the firelight, his eyes narrowed and determined as they lock on me.
Fine, they are boring me now anyway. I’ll kill these fake gods and then rebuild my army. They won’t stop me from taking over this world. I was betrayed and lost once, never again.
I hear her thoughts as if they are my own now, like a monologue. My body is half invisible. I’m losing myself faster and faster. I have to stop this, to stop her before it’s too late. My heart jumps at seeing my family here, at knowing they defeated her army. But not even a number of those soldiers could match her power and strength.
The Fates said I have to die, but how and why? Surely my death means something, surely it’s how we stop her, but how do I communicate with my family? How do I show them I’m here? How do I stop them from fighting for me? Unless they have given up…
Given up on trying to have me and instead are here to kill us both.
Maybe that’s how I die… Good. If it stops her, I’ll do it. I’ve accepted my death. I just hope they can as well.
“One last chance. Let my mate go,” Attie snarls as he steps forward.
She laughs, tutting at him, and flings her magic. It bounces off harmlessly with a hiss, and I see Alejandra’s hands holding a protective bubble around them. Good, at least they are safe. I sit upright, fighting my own weakness now. This is the end, I can feel it. I just wish I could say goodbye.
I said it in the dream, but now they are all here, and staring into their stern, broken faces, all I wish I could say flows through my head.
I meet Attie’s eyes through hers, and in his gaze, I see his pain and longing, his acceptance. He knows he has to kill me, but I also see determination to save his family and this world. What is he planning?
She’s distracted by them though, and I know this is my only chance. Throwing her memories at her won’t work, but I have to try something. Anything. I am tired of feeling helpless, of being the victim, of just lying down and taking it.
I sat back and cried when she possessed my body.
I screamed and raged when she violated it.
I won’t when she kills my family. I will stop her.
“No, and you don’t get a last chance.” She laughs and raises her hand, no doubt to kill them. Something surges through me, a power I didn’t know I had, strength and determination to not let her hurt them anymore. I don’t know if it stems from knowing I will die and being unafraid…or simply a true power that comes from my soul—not from any Fates or gods, but from me, a lowly poor human. This power isn’t about external strength or magic.
It’s based in love, my love for them.
Always.
I throw it all at her, flowing through my body once more. I grit my teeth, it feels like it’s tearing me apart, yet I still don’t stop, not until I am right alongside her in my own body, fighting for control. I stop her hand. She blinks in shock, I feel it, the flicker of my lashes on my own cheek.
“What th—” She cuts off as I smile, feeling my lips tip up.
“Didn’t think you had gotten rid of me that easily, did you?” I tell her cruelly.
“Human,” she spits.
“Lilith?” Attie calls, stepping forward, and our head snaps up. I struggle to keep her back, feeling her intent to harm them. Trying to hold her is killing me and draining my soul.
“I don’t have time,” I rasp as she fights against me. “I’m holding her, I can’t do it for long.” I feel tears trace down my cheeks as I look over my family. “I’m so very proud of you all. I’m glad you found your happiness. Look after Attie for me, won’t you?”
“Lils,” Kyro starts, but I shake my head, a cry escaping my lips.
“I’m sorry,” I gasp. “I have to die here, I do, please promise me you’ll look after him?”
“We will,” Mishal agrees solemnly, nodding. “And we love you, thank you for being our sister.”
There is so much more I want to say, but I don’t have time, so I look to the women instead. “They won’t make it easy to love—” I stumble as she fights, but I gather my strength and throw it through my body. “But do it. There is nothing as strong or as loyal as their love, and they will need you more than ever when I’m gone. Do what you have to, be there for them, hold them when I can’t, love them the way I wish I could. I’m sorry we didn’t get to become family. You are all truly amazing people.” I look to Attie, falling to my knees as the internal struggle wages on.
“Attie,” I whisper as he rushes towards me, but I scream and fling my hand up, holding him there so we can’t hurt him. “Can’t touch me,” I whisper. “It will make me weak, and then she will win and kill you. I can’t live with that. I’m sorry we never got to be together, my love, but those few days we had were better than any lifetime because they were real.” I fall back further with the pain of her trying to remove me. “I don’t have much time!” I scream. “She’s too strong. This is my choice, Attie, to die here with her, to stop her so she cannot hurt anyone ever again. Please let me do this. I know you always want to save me, but I don’t need you to save me anymore, I need you to let me go.”
“I can’t, Wildflower,” he whispers, his voice cracking as tears flow down his bloody face, his heart breaking. “I can’t live without you, I love you.”
“I love you too, Attie, always have. You are the reason I held on for so long. You made all the pain and suffering worthwhile. I would do it all over again. But it’s my time, Attie, I was never supposed to survive. You have to let me go, my love. We will be together in the next life.”
A scream tears from my throat, one of anger from Amare, and I know she’s almost back. I look across them all desperately. “Do it, kill me and her.”
“Atlas,” Remi begins, stepping forward, touching his hand, but he rips it away with a snarl.
“No! We can save her, she’s right there!” he roars and then sags. “She’s right there, we have to—”
“We can’t,” Remi murmurs. “You know what we learned. The only time she can be banished is while Lilith is still alive and in her body, giving her humanity. Lilith is dying, and if we do nothing and she dies, the darkness will be free to spread, and this world will be destroyed. Do not dishonour her sacrifice. Look at her, Atlas.”
Cassandra steps forward, joining hands with Remi. My brothers stand broken behind them, their eyes locked on me like they can’t bear to speak or look away in case I disappear again. I feel all of their hearts shattering. “Look at her, Atlas, really look at her.”
“I feel her heart,” Mira whispers. “It’s so full of love, Atlas, more than I have ever felt.” She looks at me. “You are so pure, so loving, you are too much for this world, I know that now. I think that’s why I was brought back, so I could understand.”
“So you can heal their hearts,” I gasp.
“And I can heal their bodies.” Alejandra steps forward. “We were here for a purpose, all of us, to share our powers, to get them to this moment, and to keep them alive to rebuild the world.” She looks at Atlas. “Look at her,” she insists softly as he stares at them, refusing to look at me as if it will stop what is coming.
Dabria steps forward then, joining her hand with theirs. “She is suffering, Atlas, you have to see that. Put an end to her torment, you have to. I know it hurts to lose someone you love, but just because they’re dead doesn’t mean they are ever truly gone. You remember them always, and they live on in those memories and love, but sometimes, it’s better to let them go so they can fly again.”
Bella nods. “She’s in pain,” she states bluntly. “She’s endured too much pain for so long. She’s so strong, Atlas. Lilith held on until now, until we could get here to free them both. Free them.”
“Look at her,” they repeat in sync. Where their hands are joined, their powers begin to glow, their shared strength and bonds, the same power I once had…the power that corrupted and killed me. They are not a mistake like I was, they are the future. They will hold this world together and keep the evil in check.
Agony rips through me like she is tearing me apart from the inside, and I cry out. He turns at the sound, his mouth turned down and quivering. His eyes are wet and shining with his pain, his cheeks pale and body shaking. “I can’t, I can’t let you go. It was my job to protect you, to love you. I failed.”
“No, my love,” I whisper. “You could never fail. We each choose our path. I chose the path to you, always, even when I knew it would never end well. I chose you, and I’m choosing you again now. All of you. Let me save my family. Let my death mean something,” I beg and then groan. “She’s here, quick! Kill me!”
“I can’t!” he roars.
“Do it!” I scream as I’m thrown to my knees, my face hitting the stone as her laughter floats through my head.
He can’t do it, he won’t, and when you die, I will be free.
“Attie, kill me!” I implore and lift my head to meet his eyes. My brothers are with their mates now, holding their shoulders and waists. The bond is complete, reaching out to me, circling us all. No matter the distance, family is always connected by something more than blood…
Love.
It’s the greatest power in this world.
“Save me!” I beg, trying something new. Those words stagger him, and Remi hands him a curved blade, which he takes without thinking, and I nod. “She’s here, do it!”
He steps toward me, climbing the stairs until he is standing over my body. I close my eyes, focusing on the rough, harsh quality of his breath, the smell of him, and the feel of his love as she surges up.
“I love you, Attie,” I whisper when I feel the blade come down.
Only it hits the stone next to me.
“I can’t,” he whispers and drops to his knees, cupping my face. “I can’t kill you, Wildflower, even to save this earth. I can’t. I love you too much.” He kisses me, our tears mingling.
“Attie, what have you done?” I whisper as he wraps his arms around us.
“Kill us both,” he calls to his brothers. “My magic will take you out of here before this place falls. Kill us, let me be with her forever.”
“No!” I yell and push him back, stumbling into the throne. My body shakes as I hold on as much as I can.
“If you die, I die, Lilith, my mate. My love. My wife. That’s how this works. We live together, we fight together, we die together,” he declares determinedly, getting to his knees before me. “You will never be alone again. I promised you that and I meant it. It’s me and you, Wildflower.” He looks to his brothers, who are objecting and shaking their heads. “Kill us, brothers, free us both from this life of suffering.”
“Atlas!” Ciar snaps.
“I have suffered every moment, every hour, and every day without her.” They flinch at that. “Imagine living without your mate, do it, and tell me you could live with it. I can’t, not anymore. Kill us both and save this world, that’s an order, soldiers.” He softens. “I love you all, my family. I am honoured to have shared this world and life with you. I’m sorry we were apart for so long. Don’t let my death do that to you like hers did. You need each other, always have, you’re stronger together. Now, brothers, I beg of you. I have protected you all of my life…free me to be with her.”
He turns back to me then, reaching out. “Let’s end this together, my love.”
His hand touches mine and his eyes close, waiting, a serene expression of acceptance on his face. My eyes lift to my brothers, but they can’t do it. They can’t kill us.
She breaks free.
I scream a warning, but it’s drowned out as she takes over again, and I’m pushed back. It’s not as far down, but I barely have any strength left, just enough to watch as Atlas sits there, unknowing.
“Atlas!” I warn and his eyes open, locking on me. “She’s here! Kill her!” I yell even as she laughs and backhands him. He rolls but gets to his feet, looking past her to me underneath.
“No,” he grunts.
“You will die,” I scream.
“Then so be it! I chose my family once, and I chose wrong. I should have always chosen you, because even if we died, that one moment of having you was better than a lifetime without. So here we are back at the beginning. I choose you, Lil.” He turns to my brothers. “Go, it’s too late.” His magic starts to build to transport them, but they block themselves from it.
“We won’t leave you!” they yell.
“She warned you, god.” Amare laughs as she surges to her feet, taking control of my mouth once more as her dark magic leaks through the temple.
They lost their shot.
She’s going to kill them and me and take over Earth.
No! I scream as she laughs, her hand lifting. She throws my brothers and their mates back. They sprawl on the stone floor at the base of the steps, and then she stops above Atlas while they are struggling to free themselves from the magic, screaming and yelling at Atlas to fight back.
To kill me.
He won’t, I see it in his eyes. He’s accepted his death, maybe even before he walked in here. Oh no, she’s going to kill him, and there is nothing I can do. I fight to get to the surface again, but I’m weak, having used all of my energy from that one burst to give them a chance.
Watch, little human, as I take everything you love, starting with your mate.
Her hand thrusts out, and he doesn’t stop it. He sits there, his eyes open and locked on me as it punches through his skin and into his chest. I feel it curling around his heart as he smiles slightly, wincing in pain. “It’s yours, take it. I love you, Wildflower,” he mouths, and then she rips his heart free from his chest. She raises the still beating organ as he falls onto his side and rolls down the steps, leaving a trail of blood behind.
She laughs as I am forced to watch, the blood running down her hand and arm. Amare killed the love of my life. My mate.
My Attie.
My mind cracks, my heart roars, and I know nothing but the fury and agony flowing through me. I was supposed to die, not him, never him.
No.
He will not die!
“Human, what are you doing?” she yells. I don’t know. All I know is this sudden burst of power brought on by the snapping of my mate bond. She did the one thing that could bring me back to life, that could make me fight when I didn’t think I could anymore.
She took the heart of the man I love, have always loved since I was a child. I surge through my body, and it’s her turn to be thrown into the blackness until I am blinking and feeling the warmth of the beating heart in my hand as the blood drips across my body. The instant I take over, the magic frees my family, and they rush to Atlas’ side, but part of her darkness is still there inside of me.
My mind is broken.
I’m not Lilith, their sister.
I am finally the evil she wanted me to be.
I throw them away from him and rush down the steps, dropping to my knees next to him. He’s on his side with his arm over his chest, and I roll him. Atlas’ eyes are open and unseeing, his mouth parted and chest unmoving. His body is warm, and I still feel him.
His soul is here still.
He will not leave me.
“No!” I snarl. “You do not get to leave me, do you hear me, Atlas?” I grab his heart and hold it over his chest and the gaping wound before I look around, eyes narrowed and determined. “You told me I would die!” I scream at the world, at the Fates, at destiny.
“It was supposed to be me! Not him! You promised it would hurt, you promised I would suffer, but I would save them! You bring him back to me right this fucking second!” I roar. “Do you hear me? Fuck your prophecy, fuck your destiny, fuck your plans. You can’t have him, he’s mine! He’s mine! Bring him back!”
I hear a noise and drop my head to meet the eyes of the same Fate who visited me and offered me a choice. She kneels next to Atlas, her hand coming out to touch mine. There’s a glow around her and sadness on her face. “We cannot control his choice. We saw one path, that is all, my child. He made his own fate, his own choice the same way you did—”
I rip my hand away and lean in, eyes narrowed. “I do not fucking care about paths or choices. This world needs him, they need him, I need him. You bring him back to me or you do not have to worry about her. I will burn this world down, do you hear me? I will kill every single being, fuck saving it. I will destroy it.”
She watches me, her eyes flickering between mine as I show how serious I am. Without him, I am nothing. No, that’s not true, without him, I am darkness. There is no happiness, no life, only pain and all the traumas rushing back to me, morphing me into the very thing she was.
This…this is how she was born.
This is the circle of life. She was never the one who was destined to destroy this planet, I see that now. It was always me, the Fates were right. I was a mistake, a glitch, the rebirth of her—the mother of demons. She became this way through heartbreak and betrayal…
And now so shall I.
“Lilith,” she murmurs, “there are things that not even I can do—”
“Then I will,” I snap. “I was taken from the fires of Hell, snatched from death itself. I’ll do the same to him. You can kill me, damn me, whatever you need to do, but he is mine and he does not get to die. Now either help me save him and this world, or you kill them both.” Now, I offer her a choice, because I will do anything to bring him back.
Even become that which I was trying to stop.
Because darkness, monsters…they are just those who have never been loved. Who have been hurt, left, betrayed, and lost. I wasn’t Atlas’ saviour or even this world’s. I was its damnation, and he was my light, the one designed to bring out the good in me. To protect me, to protect them.
He’s not just a god.
He’s the light of this world.
I am the darkness.
Together, we make a magnificent shade of grey, but alone…alone we are nothing but good or evil. The world needs both, it needs evil to embrace the good. It needs good to understand the suffering. It needs love, laughter, pain, and heartache. One cannot go without the other.
I cannot live without him.
This was never just a mating, this was never just love. This was a predestined connection as old as the universe itself, reborn every few centuries to keep the balance.
We are the guardians.
“If you save him, you will never be whole again, do you understand? You will need to use those powers. I will give them back to you. It will hurt, you will endure the agony you ran from, the agony that led to your death and to this moment. You will have to survive that, and you will have to share not only your heart and soul with him, but that destiny as well. It will never be easy. It will be a constant battle. If you do this, Lilith, you will become one, closer than any mates. Your power will keep him alive. If you die, so will he. He will be tied to you irrevocably forever and ever. You must understand that, this isn’t a choice to take lightly—”
“I’ll do it, take it all. Take my power, rip my soul to pieces, give him my heart.” I smack my chest. “Tear it free and put it into his. I don’t care, I will do it. Tell me how to save him.”
She nods and a small smile curls her mouth as she leans in and her lips almost press to mine. “This was always your fate, my child. Not to kill, but to save. To sacrifice and love. You are not her, you never could be. You are a part of her, that’s true, but you were reborn with a second chance to be better. You endured and accepted the love and wonderfulness this world has to offer. You chose life, even when you could have so easily picked death. You and he were our one chance to save this world once more. We could not warn you, could not interfere, even when we wanted to. Lilith, my child, remember who you are. Remember your power and save your mate. Save us all. Deliver us from darkness and evil, bind yourself to this world forever. Be its protector with your general at your side. My little Lilith, so strong. You were never human. Don’t you see that now? You are she. You are the goodness cast aside from her. You are darkness. You are evil. You are light. You are love. You are hate. You are destiny itself. Time and space could not stop you or him, Lilith,” she whispers. “Remember.” She kisses me, her soft lips touching mine, and light forms between us, engulfing us and spreading out across the world like a shockwave.
Not just light, darkness too. Brilliant shades of white, grey, and black mix and mingle together, and I do.
I remember.
My eyes close as millions of years’ worth of memories crash into me. She is right, I am so much more. This has not been my only life, but it’s the one I chose to try again, to be better. I was so much more once. I gave it up for him, for the chance of love.
For the chance of redemption
I am Lilith, the mother of demons.
Necromancer.
Lover.
Evil.
Good.
I am fate.
When my eyes open, I have knowledge and memories I could have never possessed. This is why she targeted me, for she is me. She’s the evil I cast aside when I chose a new path. She is new, but she is still bound to me. She didn’t even know, just following her destiny to kill and destroy. I didn’t even realise what I was doing when I ripped myself apart, when I made myself into a human soul waiting to be born… I did this. I created her from that part of me—true evil without hope of redemption. She received all the bad while I only got the backlash. A soul cannot be split, it leaves holes. I was searching for love and meaning, and so was she. That’s why she pulled me free. That’s why I stayed alive. One cannot die without the other.
She can never die, because I can never die.
She isn’t just bad, she is me, a new lifetime of me, with her own memories and feelings, her own ambitions…with no light or good to temper it.
I am her, even as the blackness separates us. To save him, I must embrace my past, present, and future. The pain and love. The power and weakness. I must become whole again.
I must become who I always was. Their mother. Their leader. Their saviour. Their beginning and end. Death is merely a flicker of time, never the true ending of someone. I can see him now, his soul hanging onto me. His body is simply a vessel. My warlock, my time traveller has been with me since the beginning of time, always destined for this life, and he could never leave my side.
To save us both, I must finish this.
I must give him life and share my power, not just with him, but with my family as well. That is why they were born, to help shoulder the burden with me. If they choose it, fourteen beating hearts and souls will become one.
I look down at Atlas and stroke his face. “I feel you, my love. I am here. Let me save you, let us save this world.” Leaning down, I kiss his head as I clutch the heart tighter and sink it into his chest, slipping it back into place. I hold it there as I push my power through my lips and into his. His skin starts to burn where I touch, but I add more, pulling him back, putting his soul into place. He gasps, his heart beating once, twice, and then normally in my grasp. I slowly pull my hand free as I feel his chest heal, and yet I push more power into him, sharing my magic with the one I love.
I pull away when he’s close to bursting. His eyes snap open as I feel our full bond snap into place, locking us together forever. Where one goes, the other does too. Our heart is one, our soul is one, our power is one.
We are mates.
The very first. It has simply taken centuries for us to finally be together…but that darkness is still in us, the one I have always tried to outrun. She won’t fall so easily. When she became her own person, she tried to break her connection to me, but she couldn’t.
She is alive.
She misjudged my love for my mate, the strength of it, and the bond of a soul and what snapping it would do. They all did. We were a shot in the dark. A hope of a world. A hope for a better life.
We are the monster.
