Premonition of Peace (Her Immortal Monsters #3)

Chapter 21

twenty-one

NATHALIE

As I began to chant, I took my athame and made a clean cut across my palm, wincing as the pain bit into my skin. Blood welled along the line left by the blade. The coppery scent filled the air, mingling with the salt and incense smoke that swirled around us. Carefully I dragged the blade along the lines of my palm, ending with a rune carved into my skin.

My teeth dug into my bottom lip as I cut. The lines had to be precise, and I had to dissociate myself from the pain. Taking a steadying inhale, I turned to Lucifer, who held out his hand without hesitation. I carved a matching rune into his palm, the lines painting a red design across his broad hand.

Setting the athame down next to me, I held out my bleeding hand and Lucifer placed his in mine. They clasped together, mingling our blood. I pulled our connected hands forward, allowing the flow of blood to drip over the salt outlines of the sigil.

I was still chanting, my words almost hymnal as I recited them meticulously, putting every fiber of my being into the spell.

It had to fucking work.

It took a moment, long enough for panic to flare, but the salt began to sizzle as our blood activated the intricate loops of the sigil. A soft hum filled the room; a low vibration that resonated in my bones. A glow climbed along the curves of the sigil as the entire emblem came to life, the light pulsating in rhythm with our heartbeats. My chanting never ceased as I called forth the power we needed, the ancient words rolling off my tongue, each syllable infused with intent and desperation.

As the glow from the sigil finally reached the portion that Honor occupied, I felt the first rush of her magic. It was an overwhelming surge that burned through my veins. A sob threatened to pass my lips, but I held it back. I couldn’t risk breaking my concentration. I couldn’t risk Piper stopping this, thinking I couldn’t handle it. Still, it was too much, too fast. The raw, unbridled power of the Source threatened to consume me.

Piper and Ronan had been right.

Honor remained still, unaffected by the channeling. She tilted her head slightly, watching me, her curious expression giving me a sense of peace that she was completely okay. The pain was mine. Not hers.

Lucifer tightened his grip on my hand, his presence a steady anchor in the maelstrom of energy. I connected my eyes with his and saw the concern, but also the confidence. He knew it hurt, but he trusted me at that moment. He knew I could handle it and that gave me the push I needed.

I closed my eyes, concentrating on changing the way the magic flooded through the channels. Slowly, the burning sensation began to lessen as I reversed the flow, using Lucifer as the first conduit before it reached me. It had become tempered and manageable. I glanced over to see Lucifer’s jaw clenched, his gaze trained on me only, his eyes glowing with a bright, fierce light.

The channel was complete, and the lines of salt glowed with energy. Ceasing the chant, I released him, turning my hands palm up and holding them out as I continued.

Marcel coughed weakly, a dribble of blood trickling down the corner of his mouth and down his neck. My stomach clenched, and sigil pulsed as my attention on the spell waned. Lucifer reached over to squeeze my hand, and I nodded, speaking the spell through the lump in my throat.

I concentrated on the objects of fate before me, and then I called further to the power of the Eye, allowing myself to refocus on the threads in the room. I only needed to see what was attached to me.

There were several threads linked to my existence, but three were strong, bright and connected straight through my heart. Two of them shone brighter than the other, one a little duller, as if the connection was incomplete. I sifted through them, passing by the one that I knew had been connected to me the longest.

It wasn’t hard to find Marcel’s, weak and frayed. The irony of its dimness standing out against the bright gold of everyone else in the room was not lost on me. I reached out and gently plucked the thin thread between my thumb and forefinger. I wrapped his thread twice around the spindle before setting it down.

Grabbing Marcel’s thread hanging from the spindle, I picked up the loom with shaking hands and then placed it in my lap. Sourcing my own thread, I pulled on it, feeling the tug in the pits of my soul when I draped it over the loom.

Using the spindle to guide Marcel’s thread and the loom to twine him with mine, I began to work. I bound us together. With each weave of the loom, Marcel’s thread changed. First it became a thicker strand. Then it became brighter and stronger, feeding from my own.

I looked at Marcel, and the death magic in his veins dimmed beneath his skin. His sickly color began to improve. Sweat dripped down my forehead, and a small smile formed on my lips.

It was a fleeting victory.

The strand frayed again, turning from a light gold to a muddy shade of purple, traveling the length of the thread connecting straight to my heart. His body jerked twice in a harsh, forceful motion. The hopeful change in his pallor disappeared as quickly as it had come.

“No!” I barely recognized my own voice.

Panic flooded my senses.

Pain coursed through me.

I ceased weaving through the loom any further as I coughed, and the same trickle of blood I’d seen in him came sputtering out of my mouth, spraying on the floor in front of me.

“Nathalie!” August shouted, stepping forward, but Se?ora Rosara placed her arm in front of him. Ronan held Piper back as she lunged toward me.

I shook my head violently, holding my hand up. Honor remained the same, watching me closely.

“Are you okay?” I asked her, and she nodded, completely unaffected.

“Natalie, you cannot hold the tie,” Se?ora said, her voice rising.

“I can! I just need to fix the thread!”

“Listen to me now! He needs an immortal tie. The death magic is transferring through the thread. If you bind him to you, it will kill you both!”

“No,” I whimpered, swallowing thickly. “I can . . .”

“You cannot hold him to this plane!” she shouted, stepping forward but stopping before she crossed the sigil.

“I can change myself to an immortal,” I countered, thinking quickly. “I’ll change my reality first?—”

“You can’t,” she argued, frustration radiating in her tone. “What you are doing is not that spell.”

“I have to try?—”

“Tie him to me.” All eyes in the room turned to Lucifer. His jaw was still clenched tight as Honor’s power circled through us. He dipped his chin once.

Pain wracked my body, and I nearly doubled over as the death magic attacked my insides. Tears stung my eyes, and I choked out a sob. Exhaustion washed over me, threatening to consume all my energy. Marcel’s color had paled. His cheeks were gaunt. Tiny purple lines appeared beneath my skin.

“Move the godsdamned thread now!” August ground out, his fists clenching. “I’m not losing you!”

My hands trembled as I found Lucifer’s thread, gold and vibrant and strong.

I tried to move quickly, but I couldn’t. Tremors rippled through me. Keeping steady was imperative while also seemingly impossible.

I wove Lucifer’s thread through the spindle, pulling mine away from Marcel’s so I could unravel what I had started to connect.

The moment I did, Marcel’s body convulsed. The muddy purple in the thread wound its way out of me, traveling down the length of the thread . . . and thereby taking away the life source that had been keeping him alive.

I watched in slow-motion as that death magic drove down the thread, pieces fraying behind it, heading straight for him. That’s when I knew in my heart he was going to die. He’d been on the cusp when we started the spell, and the threads had pulled from me to give him life. Without it, the magic was able to fully devour him.

A scream filled the air, and I realized it was mine as I reached my hand toward him as if it would do something to stop the inevitable. As if I had some magic that could save him. Some magic that could stop?—

An errant wind rushed through the room until all I heard was the sound of my own sobs. The magic in the thread had paused, millimeters from his heart.

Everyone in the room stood still, frozen.

Orson was behind his sister, his hand on her shoulder, with her hand resting on top of his. He held his arm out, as if he was manipulating a spell.

He’d stopped time.

“Orson,” I breathed.

His gaze drifted down to Marcel.

The sound of a weakened heart thumped pitifully, once.

Twice.

Long pauses between each beat, but Marcel was still alive. Barely.

Tears streamed down my face.

“Now, Auntie Nat,” he whispered, and Honor gave me a smile of encouragement.

Grabbing Lucifer’s thread, I wound it with Marcel’s, moving swiftly as I wove them together in the loom, over and over, repeating the spell as I did.

The loom seemed to hum with energy, each pass of the threads through the warp and weft creating a resonance that vibrated through the strands. The threads became hard to distinguish from each other.

With each second that passed, the thread grew stronger. I whispered my incantations under my breath. The loom glowed with a soft, ethereal light, each weave making it pulse brighter.

I may not have bound him to me, but I felt the connection we had strengthen as his proximity to immortality neared.

I put the loom down and picked up the shears. One wrong move, and everything could unravel. The shears felt heavy in my hand. Pulling the thread taut, I carefully snipped Marcel’s connection to the mortal realm, leaving him bound to Lucifer.

The new thread flared brightly. As the severed ends of the threads wove themselves into a new pattern, I felt a surge of energy pass through me. I may not have been holding him to this realm, but he had always been tied to me.

The sigil on the floor pulsed with Honor’s power, the magic within it reacting to the completion of the ritual, sealing the new reality I’d just created. Marcel’s thread, now intertwined with my familiar’s, glowed with a renewed vibrancy, the life force within it strong and steady.

Immortal.

The glow slowly dimmed until second by second, everything around us returned to normal. When the final bits of light faded from Marcel’s face, his features were radiant and free of the magic that had been marring his body. His breathing was steady, his heartbeat strong.

“It’s done,” I said, my voice cracking.

Orson released his hold on time, and the room exploded into life, everyone talking and reacting all at once.

“Orson!” Piper scolded, shock and fear on her face.

“I had to, Mama. I had to help Auntie Nat,” he said softly, not apologizing.

Honor stood up, hugging her brother.

Lucifer twisted his face, wrinkling his nose. “Nope, didn’t like that one bit.”

“What just happened?” August asked, patting down his body.

“The boy can control time,” Se?ora whispered.

“That’s…unnerving,” he muttered in return, taking in the chaotic room.

I looked up at the others. “I did it.”

That was when they all stopped and realized Marcel looked healthy again.

“Holy shit,” Piper breathed. She walked forward, extending her hand to help pull me up. “He’s tied to Lucifer now?”

I nodded, giving him a small smile. Holding my arms open, I gestured to the twins, and they came to me, allowing me to embrace them in a tight hug. “Thank you both,” I said softly, resting my cheek on Orson’s head. “I couldn’t have done this without you.”

“He did it too,” Orson said, and I followed his line of sight. Lucifer had stood up and was running his fingers through his messy hair.

“He sure did,” I said in agreement. After I kissed their heads, I let them go, walking over to Lucifer while the twins went to their parents.

“I suppose I owe you a pretty big thank you,” I said, brushing some of the salt off his shirt.

“I can think of a few ways you could show your appreciation,” he whispered, winking at me.

My heart sank. “Is that why you did it?”

“Of course not.”

“Then why did you?” I asked. “You don’t even like him.”

He shrugged. “He matters to you.”

“And?”

He leveled me with a stare that threatened to send shivers down my spine. “Little witch. You said so yourself: I would never harm someone you love. Watching you lose someone you love—and being able to prevent it—falls into that category. Even if it’s someone like Baggage. If I’d have let him die, a part of you would have died with him, and that I can’t allow.”

Nickname aside, my chest filled with warmth, and I wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling him close to me. “Thank you,” I whispered.

Stepping back, I wiped the tears from my face. Ronan and Piper had watched our exchange with what could best be described as curiosity. An unreadable crease had formed between Ronan’s brows as he let out a deep huff.

August had picked up Marcel, cradling him while Se?ora Rosara was speaking softly and rubbing a salve on his head.

“Your bedroom?” August assumed, tilting his head toward the open door.

“Yes, I need to keep an eye on him. I don’t know why he’s not awake yet.”

Se?ora closed her eyes, placing her hand on his forehead for a moment. “His body needs rest. Even immortals sleep after battle.” She shooed August toward the room and Lucifer followed, pulling down the blankets so August could lay Marcel down on the bed.

“Is the death magic gone?” I was fairly sure I knew the answer, but I wanted confirmation.

“No.” She pursed her lips and gave a subtle shake. “That magic is irreversible and will forever be in his body. His immortality will save him. It can’t harm him anymore.”

I’d suspected as much. A part of me hoped changing his reality would cancel out the death magic that plagued him, but I’d doubted that could happen. In the end, it didn’t matter.

Piper scrubbed her hands down her face, glancing at the twins. “I think I’ve had enough excitement for one day. I hope your next call is because you’re bringing milkshakes over.”

“Or because she’s bringing me blueberry muffins,” Honor said, smiling big. “Those are my favorite.”

I chuckled. “A milkshake sounds amazing, but what I could really use is a cup of tea. I don’t even know the last time I had a cup.”

“I thought you were at Perk & Petal earlier?” Piper asked, pulling out her phone. “You sent a text. . .”

The day’s events came rushing back to me, and I felt a pit grow in my stomach. The urgency of saving Marcel had consumed every part of me once I’d heard, but now . . .

My lips parted and my breath stuttered.

“What’s that look for?” Piper said, her tone flattening, knowing damn well I didn’t have good news.

“The Morrigan isn’t pretending to be Sasha anymore. She knows that we know.” I told them everything that happened. Every word that had been exchanged. Lucifer and August had come out of the bedroom, arms crossed and posture stiff.

Piper groaned, and Se?ora Rosara stepped forward, grave concern etched in the lines around her eyes. “Is Katherine still alive?”

I shrugged, rubbing my arms as a chill crept over me. “I think so. Otherwise she would have tried to take me, right?”

“I can’t presume to think the way she does,” Se?ora answered, glancing at August and Lucifer. “Nathalie will need your help before this is all over.”

What felt like guilt began to crawl over my skin while I attempted to avoid contact with everyone in the room. I could feel Lucifer’s gaze practically burning a hole in me. As much as he knew, there was still one detail none of them were privy to, except Ronan.

“Where’s Sienna?” Piper asked in a panic, looking at her mate with wide eyes.

I felt horrible that I hadn’t questioned it yet. “Check my phone,” I said, pointing at it on the counter where I’d dumped my things earlier. “Not-Sasha would have told me if she’d killed her, just to watch me suffer.”

Piper quickly grabbed it, scrolling and sighing in relief. “She’s okay,” she breathed. “You have a ton of missed messages and calls from her after she couldn’t find Sasha.”

“Get her to safety. The Morrigan kills when she feels like it, with or without reason. She’s playing a game with Nathalie now, and everyone will be a target,” Se?ora said, before turning to Piper and Ronan. “It’s time to take the children somewhere they can’t be found.”

Piper walked to the kids, taking their hands, and preparing to leave through the light realm. “Ronan, get Sienna and bring her. She needs to be with Hallie. I’ll meet you at home.”

Glancing at Ronan, I inclined my chin slightly, holding his gaze while he spoke in my head.

Get to her first, Nathalie. Don’t make me kill you.

Just as Piper had, he seemingly disappeared into thin air.

“Now what?” August asked, leaning against the door frame.

“All we can do is wait,” I answered, knowing he would hate that response.

“Wait for her to come after you?” He scoffed.

“That’s all we can do.” Se?ora Rosara shuffled toward the door.

“You have to be joking,” he said in return.

She turned to look at him. “Katherine is in hiding. Morgan Le Fay is playing with Nathalie now, trying to mess with her head, and we have no way to track her. Do you have a better suggestion?”

August looked at me, his features hardening. “Come to my place. It’s safer.”

I smiled, walking toward him and cupping his face in my hand. “It’s not.” I stood on my tiptoes, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. “She’ll find me wherever I go. I can’t hide from her. Right now, Marcel needs rest, and I’m going to watch over him.”

“Then I’ll stay here.” He leaned down, pressing his forehead to mine.

“Go feed Estrid. I know she’s clawing your favorite chair right now for missing lunch.” I smiled, but I knew it didn’t reach my eyes. “I’ll be okay. I need some time with him . . . you understand . . . he’s going to wake up and have a lot of questions. I just . . . need to be alone with him for a while. Maybe Lucifer can come with you?”

“Wait, what?” Lucifer said, tensing immediately.

They spent a moment staring at each other. Sizing up the other. I could feel the testosterone radiating between them.

August contemplated what I’d suggested in silence before he lowered his eyes, exhaling in resignation. “Of course he can. If that’s what you need, then it’s done.”

He held my chin between his forefinger and thumb, tilting me up to envelope me in a kiss that sent electricity all the way to my toes.

My heart clenched tightly, not wanting him to go, but needing him to all the same. I prayed to whatever gods that existed that I would see him again.

He tilted his head toward the door, addressing Lucifer. “I’ll give you a minute and wait downstairs.”

After he and Se?ora left, I stood for a while, staring at the spot where he’d just been standing. Lucifer came behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, burying his face in my hair. I turned, and he watched me closely, suspicion in his eyes.

“Sending me off with the incubus? I know he babysat Marcel, but I can assure you, I don’t need to be watched over.”

“I need the two of you to get along. Get to know him.”

He huffed through his nose mockingly. “I’d rather not.”

I sighed, twisting my lips to the side as I frowned. “For me, Luci. Do it for me.”

“You drive a hard bargain, little witch.” Lucifer rubbed small, gently circles into my lower back as he held me.

I chuckled half-heartedly. “I didn’t say anything about a bargain.”

“Everything is a bargain,” he said, lowering his voice to the edge of seduction but stopping short. Almost as if he were teasing.

“Cute,” I said flatly. “But no bargain. Just . . . me asking you for some time with him.” I glanced away briefly, my eyes catching the sigil left in the middle of the room. I’d clean that up later. As much as I liked a clean home, it wasn’t at the top of my priority list.

“You seem intent on sending August and me away. Anything else happen?” he asked, examining every inch of my features as I formed my response.

“Isn’t Morgan Le Fay’s coming out enough? I don’t need anything else to happen for at least twenty-four hours.” I tried to stifle a yawn but failed. I could feel my eyes glazing over. “It’s not sending you away either. Stay in the guest room if you insist. I don’t have the energy to make you go.”

He hummed, kissing my forehead. “I can’t stay away long, but I’ll go with him for a while.”

“Can’t stay away, or won’t?” I asked, raising a single brow.

“Same difference.”

I couldn’t help but smile. Of course he didn’t want to be there. Marcel was in my bed, and that was where he always wanted to be. “Thank you,” I said, patting his chest and stepping away from his embrace. “That means a lot to me, you learning to give me space when I ask for it.”

As I walked away toward my bedroom, a sense of dread formed in my gut. Marcel was recovering and that was the best news of the day. It didn’t stop the weight of the world from sitting on my shoulders.

I feared what would come next.

I feared I didn't have twenty-four hours.

I feared that no matter what I did, I would fail.

My breath stuttered slightly, and I shook it off. As I closed the door, I looked up, Lucifer and I locked eyes, and he held my gaze until the door clicked shut.

He whispered so quietly, I barely heard him. “I’d hate to think there’s something you aren’t telling me, little witch.”

Guilt was Piper’s shtick, but I was apparently not immune. Mine was just a different kind. The more you kept secrets from the people you loved, the more that guilt began to fester and build, slowly devouring you.

I was being served up on a silver platter, and it was my own doing.