“All I did was perform an Unbinding spell, Leviathan,” she says, not elaborating, but I hear the irritation in her voice.
“And how did that turn out, Mother?” I cross my legs and lean back while watching every movement like a hawk. Is that a hint of nervousness? She’s hiding something, but I already knew that. I want to know what she’s trying to conceal from me, and more importantly, why?
She sighs and rubs the bridge of her nose, a telltale sign of frustration, while a wave of weariness seeps out of her. She reaches over to her teapot and snaps her fingers to start heating the tea.
“I suppose it went as any Unbinding ritual goes when years of spells are wrapped deeply around someone to suppress their magic,” she says airily, being as elusive as ever.
“Mother!” My exasperated tone rings out with authority.
Her eyes snap to mine. “It didn’t go as planned. Is that what you want to hear? I had everything set up, and once she went into her dreamscape, it was out of my hands,” she snaps, and I quickly hide the shock that radiates through me. I guess throwing her off her game is working out for me after all.
“What about the potion for Clarity and Calmness?” I ask, seeking out any possible way to get to the bottom of this, but I have to play my cards right.
“What Clarity and Calmness potion?” Mother waves off my question with her manicured hand and straightens her jacket.
“The one Nerezza said you told her you were making, yet the ingredients you were using were nothing close to clarity.” I keep my voice steady even though I feel nothing like it inside. I’m getting to my boiling point, my emotions are seeping out of the cracks Rez left in my soul.
She quickly looks up at me and scoffs. “Like she would know her herbs in advanced incantations.” Quickly turning to her tea, she pauses and gives the tea a blank stare.
“She actually does, Mother. She’s quite skilled in herbology from working with her grandparents, so I wouldn’t doubt her knowledge,” I casually toss out, taking back the upper hand.
She gives me a calculating look before she shakes her head and waves off my words. Turning her attention back to the table, she pours her tea, the smell of sulfur and copper permeating the area, even stronger than before.
“If things didn’t go according to plan, why did they say she just showed up at the hospital, Mother? They said she just materialized, and they had no idea what happened to her or who dropped her off. Why didn’t you help her? Where have you been this entire time?” I raise my voice enough that it breaks on the last word, and her eyes flash back to me.
She places her shaking hands in her lap for a moment and looks up at me with a knitted brow. “Where I’ve been is not of your concern, Leviathan. But to answer your other question, there was an attack,” she says in a tight voice. “She spasmed and threw off her Familiar, and right when I reached for some more herbs, two cloaked figures rushed in, and I fought them off.” She abruptly stops and shakes her head as if she’s trying to dispense water from her ears.
“Mother?” I scoot up to the edge of my chair to reach out to her when she goes ramrod straight and her eyes turn completely white. Her body jerks and then dives for the tea, downing it in mere seconds. I’m frozen in shock as her emotions crash into me. Rage is festering like boiling water throughout her, along with fear and confusion. I slowly stand up and ease around the chair to give myself room to move if I need to.
She slams down the tea cup, shattering the pieces while taking in gulping breaths of air before she whispers, “It hurts, Levithan. I can’t…I can’t stop it. It burns hotter than hellfire.” Then she throws her head back and laughs.That wasn’t at all what I was expecting.
Lilith turns toward me, and in a flash of light, she’s in her beautiful demon form. I’ve seen it before on our multiple trips to Hell. Her skin is now a bright burgundy color with black spider-webbed looking wings protruding from her back. Thankfully, the suit she’s wearing is designed to hold both of her forms, allowing the comfort of her wings and tail that’s now swishing in irritation. Lilith, the original demon, wasn’t created with horns as some suggest, but with beautiful white, glowing tendrils that line her hairline and fall down her cheeks like living tears.
But what’s standing in front of me is nothing like the unholy demon from the depths of Hell. Mother’s skin is almost a grayish color, and it’s cracked open, allowing hellfire to flow just underneath her skin. But around her eyes, I watch as a shadow appears and slithers around them. As if her face wasn’t scary enough, a mouth shoves against her skin like it’s trying to tear out of her to get to me. I step back and almost trip over the rug.
I was wrong. She wasn’t being visited by demons. She’s somehow possessed by another one. How is this possible? Lilith shakes her head and looks back at me.
“Help me,” she pleads, and I do the first thing I can think of. I summon my magic and attempt to put her to sleep. Putting up my hands, I try to direct my magic into her body, but something is blocking me.
She lunges at me, swiping her claws towards my chest, and I quickly dodge.Fuck! I’m going to be skewered by my own mother. Maybe the guys were right. I should have cut ties eons ago.
She opens her mouth to speak, but it’s not her voice that I hear—instead, it’s a low, guttural one. “Poor old Leviathan. So lost and helpless, he can’t think for himself,” the creature taunts. “It’s a pity you’re no longer useful to us anymore. We gave you the simplest job, and you still couldn’t get that right.” The monster that was Lilith lunges for me again, and I whip off my jacket and throw it at her, muttering a quick encapsulate spell. My jacket expands and wraps around her torso, and she falls to the ground. A primal growl rips from her mouth as I fall onto her and put my hands on my jacket, not daring to touch her hellfire-split skin. The material underneath my palms begins to vibrate from her thrashing, and I know I only have one chance at this.
Feeling my entire body come to life, heat surges from my center and into the bucking demon below me. “You will calm down now. You will release Lilith from your hold.” Magic is 25% knowledge and 75% intent. They don’t teach you that in class, but I’ve learned it the hard way. My father had unique ways of teaching me magic.
“You’re not strong enough to contain all of us, Leviathan,” it mocks. The creature surges and almost bucks me off, but I send an elbow into Lilith’s head and repeat my mantra.
“Youwillrelease Lilith from your hold.”
After a few minutes of holding on for dear life, and countless surges, the emotions inside her finally wane. The process is slow but steady, and I continue pushing my magic against the wall and into her. Perspiration beads along my forehead and down my back, but I don’t dare move until I feel her body slump into slumber. I search for her emotions to confirm she’s resting, before shakily reaching into the pocket of my jacket and grabbing my phone to make a call.
“It’s Leviathan. We have a problem.”
ChapterEighteen
BOOBIE TRAPPED?
Rez
