Shadows Entwined (Shadows Descent #3)

32. Violet

32

VIOLET

I reluctantly release my grip on Caine, wishing we had time to take that altar for a test drive, but now is definitely not the time for that, no matter how tempting. "We need to focus," I say, trying to sound more confident than I feel. "Have either of you seen Thorne?"

Caine shakes his head. "I saw him briefly, but we got separated again. This place keeps shifting us around."

"It's trying to keep us apart," Flint says grimly. "We're stronger together, and it knows that."

I nod, looking around at the strange temple environment. "So, how do we find him and stay together?"

Before either of them can answer, the ground beneath us trembles. The air shimmers, reality rippling around us.

"Oh no, not again," I groan, reaching out to grab both Caine and Flint. "Hold on tight!"

When we rematerialise, we're all still together, clutching each other's hands in a death grip.

"Thank fuck for that," I breathe and look around.

The new scene we've landed in looks disgustingly familiar. It's a round chamber, which gives off distinct under-MistHallow vibes.

"Uhm," I mutter, looking around. "Please don't tell me we are back in the magick-dampening underground at MistHallow."

"No, we can't be. We are still in the void place," Flint says, sounding confident.

"How can you be so sure?"

He holds his hand out, and Dragon fire bursts out of his palm.

"Okay, that's reassuring. For now."

He nods and looks around, but none of us move otherwise.

"We need to find Thorne," Caine states the obvious.

I jump a fucking mile when there is a loud roar, and I turn just in time to see Thorne sprinting towards me. He leaps, and we crash to the ground with his hands around my neck, choking the undead life out of me.

"Hey!" Flint snaps and grips Thorne's collar, hauling him off me. "What the fuck, man?"

Thorne looks around and then stares down at me. "Violet? Shit! You weren't Violet a second ago."

"Yes, I was," I snarl, getting to my feet. "Always been me."

He shakes his head vehemently. "No, you weren't. You were someone else. Something else." His voice trembles slightly, and I see real fear in his eyes.

"What did you see?" Caine asks, keeping himself between Thorne and me.

Thorne runs a shaking hand through his hair. "My father. He was trying to convince me to join him, to betray you all."

I step around Caine, ignoring his protective stance. "This place is playing with our heads. Making us see our worst fears, our deepest doubts."

"I know that now," Thorne says quietly. "I'm sorry I attacked you."

I reach out and take his hand, pulling him closer. "It's okay. We've all been through some serious mind fucks since we got here."

"You don't say," Caine drawls, giving me the side eye with a small smile.

I giggle, but I don't have time to respond when the chamber around us shifts slightly. The walls shudder. The floor ripples beneath our feet like liquid obsidian.

"We need to stay together," Flint says firmly. "No matter what we see, what this place throws at us, we have to remember what's real."

I nod, squeezing Thorne's hand. "Our connection. That's what Magdeline said would anchor us here."

"Violet," Caine says, his voice tight with concern, "look at your chest."

I glance down and gasp. The hole from Nathaniel's stake is still there, but now it's spreading, dark cracks sprawling out across my exposed skin like breaking glass.

"What the fuck?" I whisper, touching one of the cracks on my hand. It feels cold, empty.

"The void," Thorne says. "It's trying to break you apart, make you more susceptible to possession."

"Well, that's not happening," I say firmly, though fear churns in my gut. "We need to figure out how to stop it."

Caine steps closer, examining the spreading cracks. "Maybe we can channel our power into you, like we did with the gateway? Fill those voids with our energy?"

"Worth a try," Flint agrees. "Better than watching you slowly disintegrate."

"Have you still got the book?" I ask Thorne.

He pats his chest where the book is nestled under his shirt. "Figured I needed to keep this extra close."

"Good thinking."

They form a circle around me, each placing a hand on my shoulder or back. I feel their power flow into me. It fills the cracks, stemming their spread.

But something else happens, too. As their energy flows through me, I see everything. Every moment we've shared, every touch, every kiss, every battle fought side by side. I feel their love, their devotion, their absolute trust in me. It's overwhelming in its intensity.

"Holy shit," I gasp as the visions wash over me. "Do you see this too?"

"Yeah," Thorne murmurs, his voice thick with emotion. "It's like..."

"Like we're seeing into each other's souls," Flint finishes.

Caine's grip on my shoulder tightens. "This is what Magdeline meant about our connection being real. This is what will anchor us here."

The cracks in my skin start to heal, filled with swirling patterns of ice, fire, and shadow. But they don't disappear completely. Instead, they transform into something beautiful - intricate markings that shimmer with power.

"You're literally marked by us now," Thorne whispers.

I look down at my skin, watching the patterns shift and dance. "It's perfect," I whisper. "This is what we needed. Not just our power combined, but our souls."

The chamber around us responds to our combined energy, the walls taking on the same shimmering patterns that now mark my skin. The void seems less threatening somehow, less able to deceive us.

"We need to move," Caine says, though he doesn't break contact with me. "The Old Ones are probably watching. They'll be coming."

"Let them come," I say with growing confidence. "We're stronger together. We've proven that now."

Flint grins fiercely. "Yeah, no more letting this place separate us. We face whatever comes next as one."

We move through the chamber, maintaining physical contact. Thorne's shadows are wrapped around us, connecting us, grounding us. The void tries to throw more illusions at us - familiar faces twisted into monsters, memories warped into nightmares - but they can't touch us now. Our connection burns too bright, too real.

"You know what this means, don't you?" I say as we navigate the ever-shifting landscape. "I don't have to sacrifice my humanity to defeat the Old Ones. This is what they were afraid of all along."

"What do you mean?" Thorne asks.

"They wanted me isolated, convinced I had to give up everything human about me to be strong enough. But this..." I gesture to the markings on my skin, "this proves them wrong. My humanity, my capacity to love and be loved, that's what makes me strong enough to face them."

"Not just strong enough to face them," Caine says thoughtfully. "Strong enough to change everything. Look around us."

I do, and I notice something remarkable. Everywhere we pass, the void transforms. Instead of chaos and deception, our combined power creates something new—a perfect balance of all our elements.

"We're rewriting the rules," Flint says with dawning understanding. "Not just fighting the Old Ones, but changing the very nature of their domain."

"Exactly," I say, excitement building as I grasp the significance. "I can kick their arses and make sure that they never try to overrun our world, or any other world, ever again."

Thorne's eyes gleam with pride. "That's our girl."

I smile, feeling more certain of our path than ever, even when a distant roar echoes through the chamber, followed by a tremor that shakes the fabric of reality around us.

Caine says grimly, "They're coming."

"Good," I say, straightening my spine. "Let's show them what real gods can do."

The markings on my skin glow brighter, and I feel invincible with my guys by my side.

This is what Morgan never understood, what the Old Ones couldn't comprehend. True power doesn't come from sacrificing your humanity or your connections. It comes from embracing them, letting them fill you up until you overflow with light and love and strength.

Another roar shakes the void, closer this time. The Old Ones are coming, but we're ready. Together, we are more than the sum of our parts. We are balance incarnate, chaos and order, light and shadow, fire and ice, all bound together by something they can never understand. Love.

"Ready?" I ask, though I already know the answer.

"Always," they say.

The void trembles around us as we prepare to face whatever comes next. But I'm not afraid anymore. How can I be, when I have three gods at my back and the power of true love running through my veins?

Let them come. We'll show them what real power looks like.