My action was just in time because the air groaned, the world growing hot and then—as if it was never hanging in the air like a bauble on a tree—the helicopter just disappeared.
Devoured by the shadows spilling from me, it popped out of existence.
The world went entirely silent.
My connection to the old magic faded the moment the pilot touched the safety of the ground. Out the corner of my eye I was aware the military had advanced, covering the pilot with their bodies like a shield.
They didn’t stop moving until they closed in on me.
I slumped on all fours, utterly exhausted. Like the snap of a band, that devious part of Bahmet flooded back into me. All buta single puddle which coated the ground beneath my hunched form.
Confused, I found myself looking into the reflection of black glass.
Even if I wanted to run, wanted to escape from the armed men and women who flooded towards me, pressing guns into my back and shouting orders at me to ‘hit the ground’, I couldn’t. There was no escaping this.
I was almost surprised they’d not shot me yet. Especially when the soft kiss of metal worked into my neck, forcing my head to lift up from the puddle of shadows beneath me.
“No more tricks unless you want a bullet in your head,” a woman shouted.
She looked equally frightened. There was also a sense of regret in her harsh blue eyes. Like she knew what she must do next, regardless if I fought back.
Death had finally come knocking.
“I should’ve dropped the helicopter on myself,” I found myself saying, unable to stop the sarcasm from spilling out of my numb lips. “Save us both the job…”
Of course she didn’t reply with words. In fact, the only response I got was from the click of the gun’s safety being removed as other military personnel shouted around her.
I closed my eyes, aware of a wetness surrounding my knees which spread up my legs. Even my body had come to terms with the end.
I thought of Romy, her smile, and my hope that she found peace in the chaos of all of this.
I thought of my parents. Would they greet me beyond the darkness with open arms, or turn their backs on me in disappointment?
Lastly, Arwyn filled my mind.
Not the Arwyn I had last seen, but the man I met those months ago. His image was the clearest, with his bright eyes, handsome smile, and touch that had a habit of lingering even when he wasn’t close.
I took the memory of him, the illusion that had made me fall in love before breaking my heart. I held it close and?—
Someone screamed orders. I thought I heard the word ‘halt’ followed by ‘stand down’. My eyes opened wide to find the gun drawing back. Relief was short-lived though as I looked down to find the puddle of shadow no longer, well, a puddle. The details of the darkness had defined, now showing what looked to be a coiled body of black glass. Slowly, it unfurled, all without the military personnel noticing.
A scream caught in my throat as I finally made sense of what I was seeing. In the silence of my thumping head, a new voice filtered in. For a moment I was hit with the grief of losing Caym—my familiar and friend. But this voice was different. It was slower, precise in its movements. Most notable, it wasextremelypissed off.
“You have dragged me from my slumber towork? Curse you.”
My neck ached as I snapped it around, searching for the speaker.
“Down here, youfoolishmortal.”
There were many things in life I wished I had done differently, and looking down into my lap in that moment was certainly one of them. Because there, uncoiling with scales of obsidian that were so black the light no longer reflected off them, was a snake.
No, it was fucking viper with an arrow-shaped nose, forked tongue and needle-sharp teeth.
Did I mention I fuckinghatedsnakes?
Yup, I really do wish that helicopter had squashed me to pulp.
The viper snapped its jaws.“Do not be so dramatic.”
