“Our family’s blood is on your hands,” Ariadna said. “Every choice you made, every action, every lie and broken vow to my mother. And when we died, she knew she wouldn’t be able to return. She knew she would have to cross over with Arch. So she sent me with a message.”
I understood right away what that meant. I had executed all the Seers in my employ and bound them to this house. “You were here, too, weren’t you?”
She nodded.
“I am sorry. I did not know.”
“Father, I am here to tell you that you must set things right. And until you do, your soul will not be allowed to cross over.”
“This was your doing? I cannot die because of you?” They’d been contained here for over twenty-five years.
“We might not have been able to leave, but these walls and your wards could never keep us from speaking with our ancestors whose souls still roam free. That is why you will remain here. Every misdeed, every thread of the tapestry, every footprint must be erased.
“You were never meant to live for three thousand years, Father. Rules were broken. And because of that, this world is changed. Because of you, because of your choices, and because of Ten Club.”
As she spoke, I realized her words were something I already knew. It was why I’d cursed myself to forget. After all my sins, I did not deserve the happy memories of my wife and children. I wanted to punish myself.
“Your suffering is not enough. This is why we bound you to Jeni,” Ariadna continued. “The last living Seer, whose gifts are befitting of a man like yourself.”
Jeni was the last. I’d suspected as much given how many Seers I had personally killed, all for reasons I did not care to rehash.
What was her gift? It wasn’t summoning death, as I had believed. That dark, sadistic creature had been me all along, my soul bound to Jeni instead of my own body. It was why I felt a massive dark void inside and could not cross over. No soul meant I was merely an empty shell—living, but not complete.
“Jeni can see you for who you truly are,” said Ariadna. “You cannot trick her. You cannot use your powers to manipulate her will. And you will learn from her.”
The king. Learn from a meek, twenty-three-year-old woman who just last week was afraid of her own shadow?
“Father,” Ariadna said sternly, “the only reason you are getting this chance is because I made a promise to Mother.”
“What promise?” After all the lies, and how my sweet Mia must’ve suffered upon her death, having to watch our son executed, I deserved whatever punishment was coming.
“She said to tell you that she loved you and that she forgave you. Her only regret was that she couldn’t save you from yourself.”
“What did you promise her?” I repeated.
“To give you one more chance. Don’t waste it.”
I blinked and found myself staring into Jeni’s brown eyes. “King? King? Are you okay?” Her head whipped around. “Where’d it go? Where’d that thing go?”
“Fuck if I know,” Serina said, reaching for the door.
My conversation with my daughter had ended abruptly, but I knew what had to be done. If I ever wanted to cross over and see my wife and son again, I had to make things right. I had to pay for all my sins.
“Serina.” I righted myself and stood tall. “Not so fast.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
JENI
I wasn’t sure what had happened to King in that living room, but he didn’t say much after the shadow thing appeared. Then disappeared. All I knew was he’d muttered a few curses, and the room turned into a churning gust of wind. Then Serina dropped dead right where she stood. No fanfare. No struggle. Just…dead—a testament to King’s power.
A moment later, the gust stopped, and the house was empty. The eyes I’d felt on us were gone. How or why? I didn’t care.
“Dad!” Tears streaming down my cheeks, I rushed outside to Serina’s red sports car—some expensive-looking Italian thing. Please let him be okay. Please! The thought of what she’d done to him broke my heart.
I found the lever next to the driver’s seat and popped the trunk. I rushed to the open compartment and gasped. Oh God. Oh God. I covered my face, unable to look. He was dead, like she’d said, lying there like a lifeless ragdoll.
“Let me help you bring him inside.” King appeared with a blanket. He covered my dad and carried him inside to the big white couch in the living room. Serina’s body had already been removed, probably chucked down the basement stairwell. That hellhole was the perfect place for her. Evil to the core. It was probably why she’d been able to take control of Ten Club after King left. Zero redeeming qualities.