BRAVING THE DARKNESS: One Night With The Demon King
BENEATH HER DARKNESS: The Alpha’s Little Demon Book 2
Chapter 39 – In Between Realms
PATREA.
“Adora?” I asked as the tears finally trickled down my face at the exact moment the figure came into the light, revealing the girl I was so longing to see.
She still looked the same as the last time I saw her, and despite the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes, she looked happier.
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“Am I dead? Why am I seeing you? Where are we?” I asked.
“We are in between realms, Mama?”
“What do you mean? Are you stuck in between realms?”
She shook her head as she sat at the end of my bed. “I am with the spirits. I only came here for you — to ask you if you want to come with me to the spirit world.”
“Am I dead?”
“Lucius bit you.”
I shook my head. “He didn’t mean to.”
A spark in the darkness flashed before my eyes, and my arms instinctively covered my eyes. After a while, I slowly lowered my arms to see another female standing beside Adora.
Her eyes were pure black, as was her long hair. And from the runes that were covering her body, I already knew who she was. I was now fully convinced that I was already dead.
“Guinevere,” I murmured her name. She was the guardian of the spirits, akin to the goddesses and gods of the other realms.
“My child…” She greeted me, and her warmth engulfed my body.
“Am I dead?”
“On the brink of death.”
“It’s impossible. Lucius will never hurt me.” I explained.
“Did you forget what his father did to you? Lucien made you invincible in the demon’s world – only he could kill you. Him and his bloodline?”
“Are you saying Lucius killed me?” My eyes watered as soft sobs escaped my throat. “I’m sure he didn’t mean to. He said he loved me.”
“Do you believe it?” Guinevere asked. “A demon can have many disguises, including luring a person to believe they want them.”
“I’m sorry, but my heart tells me that he does. Or maybe something is wrong with me because even if I know he’s a demon, I do believe him.” I tilted my head and met Guinevere’s eyes. “Are you taking me now?” “We can be together, Mama. Together with no pains, no terror, no torture. And we can wait for Althea together.”
I wanted that, oh spirits! But I don’t think I was ready to let Lucius go. Not yet.
“Adora…” My whole body was wracked with my sobs as I dropped my gaze to my lap, my hands covering my mouth… “I wanted that so bad… but…” “But not anymore. You want him… more… right?”
My head tipped up, and I saw the pain that flitted in my daughter’s eyes. I moved my body so I could get closer to her before my hands went to her arms, and I felt relieved that I was able to feel her. “Don’t ever think that I don’t love you. I do. Every day, I pray for the time I will get to hold you one more time. But Adora… I have never been this happy in my whole life. You and Althea, you make a mother’s heart happy, but Lucius…”
“Do you love him, Mama?”
“I do. And I remember the pain in his eyes. He doesn‘t deserve that pain. He didn’t mean to kill me. I know that, I feel that. And I don’t want to die. Not yet. Not now. I want to be happy too. Is it too much to ask?”
My eyes met Guinevere’s, and her eyes softened as she looked at me. “I never had to share my witch’s soul with a demon.
“What do you mean?”
“When Lucius marked you, your body underwent a transformation. But I was holding back from letting you finish that transformation. I want to give you the choice. I know you love the Demon King, but are you ready to forsake everything to be with him?”
I swallowed hard as I repeated the words in my head.
Forsake everything?
“His realm will be yours. And one day, when your life perishes both in the human realm and the underworld, you may never get the chance to spend eternity with Adora or with Althea.”
My mouth opened as my gaze darted to Adora.
She held my hands as love and understanding crossed her eyes. “I will be okay, Mama. It was enough that I got to tell you that I loved you and that I knew you were happy. That’s all I want because if there’s anyone who deserves it, it’s you. And if it’s a demon king who can give you that, I won’t care what he is, as long as he loves you the way you deserve to be loved.”
More tears streamed down my face. My daughter has always been so selfless.
“If you cross the threshold to the demon side, there will be no turning back,” Guinevere stated.
“Are you taking away my capacity to summon spirits?”
“No. It will always be yours. If anything, the transformation will give you stronger power to summon even the underworld spirits. They will do your binding once the Demon King’s blood runs in your vein.”
‘I will be a demon, I told myself. Just like Alpha Adan.
“A hybrid. A strong one, given that the one that bit you is a king of the underworld.”
My eyes went back to Adora as she moved closer and wrapped her arms around me. Her shoulders shook as sobs overtook her. “I love you and I miss you, Mama. I’m glad I can hug you one more time.”
My eyes were filled with tears, which kept streaming down my face. My heart was torn between an afterlife with my daughter and an eternity with Lucius.
I am a mother, and yet I am forsaking my daughter for a man I just met. What kind of mother am I?
ALTHEA.
“Mama!” I screamed as Patrea’s body began to convulse and blood oozed out of the wound Lucius gave her as well as from the corner of her mouth.
In seconds, Blade was already beside me, holding my shoulders as he stared at Patrea.
I kept wiping the blood off her mouth, but it just kept coming out.
“No! No! No! Summon, Lucius!” I yelled at Blade, but he wasn’t listening.
Instead, he yanked me roughly off the bed and carried me away from Patrea. I hammered his hands before my eyes widened when Patrea’s body glowed until fire engulfed her whole body.
“Nooooo!” I screamed at the top of my lungs with my hands extending out.
I wanted to go to her, but Blade was holding me tightly in his arms while his chin was on the top of my head, stopping me from moving away from him.
I was so terrified the fire would consume Patrea, and before I could stop myself, I was already chanting a spell to remove the fire. “Spiritus ad te voco, prohibe…”
I was not able to finish my spells because Blade’s hand went on my mouth, stopping me from talking, which aggravated me more.
“Stop!” He growled. “Look at her!”
The fire on Patrea’s body calmed down and was slowly dying out until it was completely gone. My eyes roamed her whole body, and my eyes widened at the sight in front of me.
She was no longer wearing the long black dress I put on her, but instead a black ensemble that exposed her arms and midriff. Her body was painted with ancient markings, including runes.
“Let me go,” I calmly told Blade, and he did let me go this time.
I walked slowly to Patrea’s bed, and the moment I was just a few feet away from her, her eyes snapped open as her body jolted forward, surprising me and making me take a step back abruptly. If Blade wasn’ t behind me to grab me, I would have stumbled in my a*s*s.
My eyes were so round as I stared at Patrea. She looked the same, but not at the same time.
I didn’t know how to explain it, but something happened to my grandmother. But whatever it was, I didn’t care anymore. She was alive. I could hear her heartbeat.
I rushed toward her and snaked my arms around her. She wasn’t moving, and the thought of her forgetting about me hurt my heart, until her arms wrapped around my body and her warm lips touched my forehead, placing a soft k*iss on it.
“Althea…” Her voice came out dry.
“Mama…” I cried harder as I hugged her tighter. I’d been crying the whole time, and I had no idea why I still had many tears left in me. “Don’t leave me again.”
“No… No, I won’t.” She smoothed my hair before she held my arms and pulled me away from hugging her. “I saw Adora, and she told me how much she loves you. She’s in a good place.”
My body shook with more sobs before I cupped her face. “Mommy didn’t take you? She let you stay?”