“Memories,” she croaked. “Dark magic infected souls were…trappedin the altar. But there’s no lingering dark magic.”
“Shit,” Bram barked. Chaos manifested and jumped onto the altar, making it crumble even while it was covered by Pandora’s smoke.
Her power only wrapped tighter around the broken pieces of it, though.
Pandora continued to spasm violently in Hunter’s arms as we all surrounded her. I felt fucking useless—unable to help at all.
“It’s been used to sacrifice countless souls on,” Nebula hissed in a low, sad tone. “Pandora will be okay, but she’s being forced to witness the suffering from the souls who died here as she consumes them.”
“Infected…hurt…killed…sacrificed…” she hissed the words through bared teeth, her magic pulsing through the smoke.“So many.”
“What kind of altar does this?” Skel shouted, grabbing his hair with both hands.
“One made of dark maginite,” Nebula answered, and my eyes almost popped out of my fucking head at that.
Dark maginite was such a problematic crystal.
Pandora groaned as her magic left the crumbled altar and slowly slithered back down her throat as she gulped it down painfully. “Memories…worse than…pain,” she choked.
“Fuck,” I snarled, shaking my head as I forced my magic to chip away at the pain wreaking havoc on her.
“The souls are taunting her,” Nebula explained. “Sybil must have known she’d come here and hoped that the altar would react to her, overwhelming her with souls.”
“Not…overwhelmed,” Pandora gritted out, sweat slicking her body as she writhed in pain in Hunter’s arms. She tried to lean up, but another convulsion struck her as she clutched her belly.
“She needs to puke,” Reed murmured as we all helped her lean forward.
“Here.” Bram held an old trash bin filled with nothing but dust and dried blood in front of her, but it was better than nothing.
She gripped the rim and lurched forward, spewing streams of bile. She retched hard until she finally emptied her stomach. “Sybil Shaw took so many lives for so many years.”
We all helped her to her feet.
“You will be the one to kill her,” Nebula murmured. “You have to put an end to the suffering she’s caused.”
Tears flooded her red eyes as she nodded. “I will, Nebula.”
“I’m sorry you had to do that on your own,” Jesper said regretfully, a sad frown on his lips. “The relic wouldn’t work to aid you.”
Reed passed her a mint, which she popped into her mouth with a small smile.
“Thank you for trying, but it wouldn’t have worked because there was no dark magic. Only souls,” she told him before a jolt of anger hit through the bond from her. “What’s next?”
Jesper’s brow raised, but he answered, “There’s only one more ritual we are aware of before the one we found out about today.”
“When?”
“Two weeks at the Ice Factory,” he answered.
She nodded, holding her bag with Nebula close to her chest. “We’ll see you there.”
* * *
“Don’t,” my sister croaked. “Please, don’t hurt him. He’s only four. He’s your son!”
My stomach twisted with guilt like it always did. I was powerless, and I couldn’t save her. I was never able to save her.
“And you’re our daughter. We don’t hold much attachment to that,” Mother replied. “Both of you were born for Dark Veil.”
