Premonition of Peace (Her Immortal Monsters #3)

Chapter 23

twenty-three

NATHALIE

Fucking dreams.

You’d think after mind-blowing orgasms, you’d sleep soundly. Apparently not.

Too many times I’d startled myself awake, my hand clutching my chest and feeling my pounding heart while my breath came in ragged gasps and sweat coated my body.

Each time, Marcel woke with a jolt, pulling me back into his arms and lulling me back to sleep with his warm embrace.

Visions of raging fire and fields of glass. Wolves and ravens attempting to shred each other to pieces as they fought. Everyone I loved standing on the other side of a dark, bottomless canyon while I helplessly watched The Morrigan destroy them.

“Marcel?” I whispered softly, checking to see if he’d stir. The gentle rhythm of his breathing was my only answer.

Good. I felt bad enough waking him up so much. He’d always been a deep sleeper, but someone thrashing next to you was hard to ignore.

A glance at the clock told me it was nearly three in the morning. If my anxiety refused to let me sleep, so be it. I slipped out of bed, deciding that tea and a comfy blanket in my reading chair might be what I needed. Grabbing sweatpants and an oversized sweater, I pulled them on quickly and left, shutting the door softly behind me. The floorboards creaked under my feet as I made my way to the kitchen.

The familiar routine of making tea helped to steady my racing thoughts. As the kettle heated up, I leaned against the counter, staring out the window into the dimly lit, sleeping city.

My sister was still out there somewhere. So was Morgan Le Fay. Katherine was biding her time, staying hidden. She was good at it, thankfully. My hope was that bought me a few more days. For someone who had been in control for so long, it was terrifying to know how much of this wasn’t in my hands, but I wouldn’t let fear paralyze me. The fact I wasn’t in control pissed me off as well. This was my city. My family. If I was going to let an emotion drive me, I’d choose the latter.

The kettle whistled, pulling me from my thoughts. I poured the hot water over the tea leaves, watching as the steam curled into the air. The scent of jasmine filled the kitchen, soothing and familiar. I wrapped my hands around the mug, letting the heat seep into my skin.

Tea in hand, I walked around the sigil and headed to my den. The French doors creaked lightly as they swung open. The smell of books mingled with the scent of jasmine, and I felt at ease.

“Maybe I can sleep sitting up,” I said aloud to no one but myself. Even if it were a small cat nap, if it was dreamless, I’d take it.

I audibly sighed in relief as the comfort of the chair held me. Mindset, I told myself. You can sleep. Safely. You can rest.”

My body relaxed. The tea had worked its magic, and I was in my favorite spot. As I began to drift . . .

Tap, tap.

I cracked an eye open, looking around to see if Marcel had come in, but no one was there. I paused, straining to hear it again, but no other sound came.

The moment I closed my eyes, it happened again.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

“ What in the Edgar Allen Poe nightmare is this?” I grumbled, standing up and walking into the living room.

Tap! Tap!

It was coming from the window. I caught a glimpse of what was making that sound and at first my heart jumped in my throat.

“A fucking raven? Are you kidding me? This really is some Poe shit,” I whispered, taking a closer look as I took slow, hesitant steps toward it.

It continued to hover in the same spot, flapping its wings. The bird cocked its head, watching me with intelligent eyes before it lifted its body slightly, showing me its legs. A small, rolled piece of paper tied to it.

I blew out a breath, steeling myself before I opened the window, and it landed on the ledge. Holding its leg out for me, I reached toward it slowly so I could untie the parchment.

I couldn’t help but feel a shiver run down my spine as I touched the cool, smooth feathers. “You really are something,” I whispered to it, wondering if it understood me. Part of me waited for it to say “Nevermore” in response. I might have fainted if it had.

Instead, after I’d relieved of its message, the raven gave a soft caw and flew off into the night. I watched it for a long moment before turning my eyes back to the small slip of paper, unrolling it to reveal a short script.

Rooftop.

~K

I immediately recognized the scrawled handwriting and breathed a sigh of relief. Katherine was here. She was still okay.

I almost yelled for Marcel but stopped myself. They were still technically married, and that was weird, wasn’t it? I needed to see her alone, and not invite whatever tense reunion that would occur if I brought him with me.

I left the note on the kitchen counter and grabbed some boots and a jacket by the door. The night air would be chilly enough simply for this time of year. Add the New Chicago wind while standing on a rooftop? No thanks.

Leaving the apartment was easier when your houseguest didn’t have supernatural hearing. Marcel might have been immortal now, but he was still a warlock. Lucifer would have already been glued to my side, refusing to leave. I made my way up the stairs to the rooftop, my mind racing with what new my sister had. We had a lot to talk about, and knowing Katherine, she was going to be vague and disappear as quickly as she’d arrived.

When I finally pushed on the thick metal door leading to the building’s roof, it screeched as it opened, and the cool night air hit me, bringing with it the faint sounds of the city around us.

As I rounded a corner, Katherine came into view, standing near the edge, her silhouette framed against the night sky, dramatic as always.

“Fancy way to get my attention,” I called out, my voice echoing slightly in the night air. “I?—”

My words broke off and I froze as she turned to me.

Katherine wasn’t alone. She was gripping Sasha’s lifeless body by her hair. In her other hand, a blade, gleaming in the moonlight.

My heart pounded in my ears. A grin stretched across Katherine’s face, vicious and unsettling. It was like looking at my own reflection twisted into something sinister. I didn’t get closer, knowing it was safer to keep a good distance between us. Panicking would get me nowhere, but fucking hell did I want to panic.

“Hello, Nathalie.” She cocked her head, looking behind me and then giving a tut of disappointment. “Didn’t bring Marcel, I see? That’s a shame.”

My heart skipped a beat. She had known we saved him. She knew I was with him, and that meant she knew no one else was here.

The Nats of the loci were still, but fear and anger radiated from them in waves.

“It didn’t take you long,” I said, attempting to keep my voice calm. “I saw you, what, fifteen hours ago? How long before you found my sister?”

The Morrigan chuckled, smirking at me while she did. “Katherine isn’t as smart as she thinks she is. She’s been shadowing you once a day. Probably to check in on her dear sister. Isn’t that sweet? All I had to do was wait.”

“Couldn’t have waited a little longer?” I asked, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “I was trying to sleep.”

“What’s the saying? There’s no rest for the wicked?”

I scoffed. “Lame. Getting slower in your old age, Morgan. You can do better than that.”

“Why are you taunting her?” Peace whispered from the loci, her body shaking.

“It keeps her talking,” The Warden said, shushing everyone by gesturing her hands.

The Morrigan sneered. If there was one thing I knew about her, it was that she was as vain as she was power-hungry. “My, my. Filled with unearned confidence, aren’t you, Nathalie?”

I shrugged, but the entire time I feigned nonchalance, my mind raced. “Oh, no. I think I’ve earned my confidence,” I said, placing my hand behind my back.

The Morrigan laughed, the sound eerie and wrong coming from my sister’s mouth. “Do you think Marcel will know it’s not you?”

My attempts to focus halted the moment she said his name. I tried to school my features, but I knew she’d seen me slip.

“Or Lucifer, even,” she said with a salacious smile. “Oh, that will be a fun victory.”

“I doubt it,” I said, clenching my teeth.

“That’s your flaw, Nathalie,” she began, giving me a look of pity. “You doubt too much. You never see the possibilities for what they are. Did you doubt it would ever come to this? I bet you did.”

In the time it took me to understand what was happening, she swiftly dragged the knife across Sasha’s throat. A curtain of crimson poured out, and Sasha’s blank green eyes rolled into the back of her head. The Morrigan shoved the lifeless body forward, letting it fall with an unceremonious thud. A scream tore from my lips as Sasha’s head smacked against the concrete with a sickening crack. Her soul was lost, forever disconnected from her body. My breaths came in ragged gasps as my brain spiraled. My memory loci was a mess of chaos.

“What’s the plan here, Morgan?” I asked, my voice trembling with barely contained fury. “Take over my body and rule the world? You’ve been making babies and killing your own family for centuries now, and you’re still at it. Really playing the long game here, huh?”

The Morrigan scoffed. “Witchcraft and magic are about power, Nathalie. We’re better than every supernatural out there, yet the gods didn’t give us immortality. Fuck the gods. I found my own. I can control life and death. I can create my immortality.”

“Guess that’s the constant wrench in your plan, isn’t it? Witches have an expiration date. Must be exhausting jumping from body to body.”

It was incredibly hard to use the Eye to search through threads while seemingly keeping my focus on the enemy in front of me. One wrong move and she would suspect something else was happening. Thousands of threads. Millions. I just had to find one.

The Morrigan tilted Katherine’s head, a mockingly thoughtful expression on her face. “Just as I said. You just don’t see the possibilities.” She smiled, baring her teeth. “When I take over your body, I’m going to fuck that delicious incubus of yours. Complete that aurae bond you’ve been denying yourself, annoyingly I might add.”

My stomach roiled. There it was. Her key to immortality. My body. My chaos magic. My aurae bond with August.

A humorless laugh bubbled up. “He’d never fuck you, Morgan. He’d know it wasn’t me. Surely you aren’t that stupid.”

She glared at me, something sparking in her eyes. “He doesn’t have to be willing, Nathalie. Surely you aren’t that stupidly innocent. He can barely hold the aurae bond back. His desire to feed will override everything. He’s putty in my hands. Or your hands, really.”

Bile rose. Anger flared. The Nats of the loci tried to calm me down, reminding me to focus. I had to get her to stop talking about him. It made me vulnerable. “Honestly, I have to admit, I thought you were going to have Sasha kill Kat so you could just skip over her entirely and come to me.”

She walked around, light on her feet, not a care in the world. She didn’t suspect danger. She thought she was in control. “Again, without seeing the possibilities, Nathalie. It’s a wonder you’re a Le Fay. Of course I could do that. But where's the fun? This way, you get to watch poor Sasha here die.” She kicked my friend’s lifeless body with her boot and Sasha’s head lolled to the side. A flood of anger washed through me. The Morrigan knew her taunting had worked. She met my eyes, relishing her small victory. “She saw me in the veil, you know. Remember when I came out and told you something was hunting in there? It was me, naturally, but she knew. Oh, and she was so close to your lure. So close to getting back to her body.” She looked down at Sasha and pouted, flicking her boot against Sasha’s feline ears. “Alas. I got there first. A for effort, though, eh, kitty cat?”

“Fair enough,” I said, playing along and trying to swallow the emotions. “You fooled me. Still. We both know you aren’t going to kill Kat,” I said, tilting my head and raising a brow. “You can’t.”

She shrugged, flicking the blade to the side and spattering droplets of blood on the floor. “I don't need to. Your friends will do that for me.”

I barked a laugh. “Okay, you’re crazy, we can both agree on that, but this one takes the cake.”

“You don't have the power to fight me.” Anger flashed in her eyes. “All it's gonna take is one of your friends, one of your lovers to see Kat hurting you. Standing over your unconscious body. They won’t think twice to save their precious Nat.” She chuckled, skipping around Sasha’s body while I kept myself angled away from her. “You don't think that my power, my magic, is stronger than yours? Please. I've spent lifetimes perfecting chaos magic. You're just a baby. You have no idea how much power you hold, or how to use it. And you never will.”

“My friends aren't going to kill my sister.”

The thread came into view. An eerie, sickly-looking strand warped, but strong. It pulsed with a sinister energy, intwining itself between Kat and The Morrigan.

She gave me a sardonic smile. “Why not? If you thought I would take Sasha's body to kill Kat and then take you, I'm guessing you shared that same little tidbit with all of your friends. They’ll kill her without a second thought. And you know why? Because she’s always been a villain. No one trusted her. But they’ll trust their eyes the moment they see you in harm’s way.”

My lips parted as my breath stuttered. She was absolutely right that would happen.

“Focus! The shears! Get the fucking shears!” Bad Nat shouted.

The Morrigan carried on, unaware. “And better yet. You didn't tell anyone you were coming to see me. Did you? I'm willing to bet you didn't share that note with anyone. No one knows you're here with her. Tsk-tsk. Always trying to jump in and save the world on your own.”

I glared at her, trying to clear my mind and focus on one thing.

The shears.

It was becoming seamless. Finding the right threads was harder than calling the objects into my possession. Heavy, cold scissors materialized into my hand.

“Cut it,” The Warden yelled from the loci.

“Her thread could tie to yours quickly afterward. Cut it as soon as it starts to weave around yours,” Ann said firmly.

Then what?

“Fight like hell,” Bad Nat said through gritted teeth.

“You have a flaw too, you know. Quite similar to mine.”

Morgan raised eyebrow in genuine surprise while she giggled, almost childlike. “And what's that?”

“You don't see all the possibilities either.”

I pulled the shears from behind my back. Holding them in my right hand as my left hand reached forward and grabbed a thread that now stood out against all others. Pulling the thread that bound her to Katherine, I slid it between the shears, swiftly closing them tight.

The Morrigan’s eyes widened as an explosion of gold flashed, blinding me for a moment. As the two strands unraveled. I tried to grasp the strand connected to Morgan Le Fay, but it snaked and slithered, sliding off of Kat’s in a flurry. I couldn't grasp it between my fingers.

For a moment, Morgan Le Fay stood still, frozen as her line disconnected from Kat. Where her psyche went, I didn't know. When Kat's eyes rolled into the back of her head, her body dropped to the floor.

It happened. Everything, everywhere, at all once. The Morrigan’s loose thread whipped around until a new thread emerged, and it pulsed, spiraling around a new strand.

Mine.

A shock reverberated through my body.

“Get rid of the shears!” Ann shouted, and I had enough wherewithal to will them away. They disappeared as quickly as they’d come.

The soul tie choked my thread, suffocating it and my sense of self along with it. A cold current rushed through my veins.

“ Gods ,” Bad Nat breathed, and for the first time, I heard fear in her voice.

“It's happening,” The Warden said.

“ What do we do? ” Peace asked, her voice shaky.

“ Hide ,” Caretaker and I said at the same time.

I managed to call out to one person before darkness enveloped me. I knew he’d hear it.

“Ronan . . .”