Female NovelChapter 277
CASSANDRA
The horrible sight before my eyes was the worst nightmare I’d ever seen, yet no matter how hard Ipinched myself, it wasn’t going away.
*
As the fire covered Asher’s body, his skin began to peel down. Soon, the black burnt skin becameashes, and then the ashes disappeared entirely and blew down the corridor.
“No!” I screamed out of anger and sorrow. “No, no, no!”
My lungs ached as I cried out, but I couldn’t stop. Tears spilled down my face like a river, and my visionstarted to break out with spots as I shook.
No one was going to take Asher away from me.
This couldn’t be happening.
My skin began to burn again, and I realized the flames were engulfing me as well, but I didn’t care.There was nothing I could see but fire, endless, unstoppable fire. The screams and cries soon fadedaway, and as the flames danced around me, I realized that Ronald, Helene, and the other guests weregone too.
But somehow, despite my trauma and all that I’d endured at the hands of fire, my fear disappeared.
Without Asher, there was no point in going on. I wasn’t afraid anymore. I would accept my demiseknowing that I did all I could in this lifetime.
But just as I resolved to close my eyes and accept my unavoidable and imminent death, a figurebecame clear in the inferno. They were standing not too far away from me, and when they walkedforward, their features became more clear.novelbin
It was Emmett Keller.
“You’re finally here,” he remarked as the flames flicked around us. “I’ve been waiting for you for solong?
“Waiting for me?” I blurted out before I even had the chance to understand what was happening. “Whywere you waiting for me, Emmett?”
His eyes remained fixed on mine and then he smiled calmly at me.
“I owe you an explanation,” he said.
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“What explanation?” I wondered as my eyebrows creased together. “Emmett, what’s happening?”
“I’ll tell you everything,” he assured me as my mind began to panic. “I just need you to come here.”
I glanced around us at the fire that was still blazing on and hesitated for a second before I complied.Once I was close enough, Emmett caught my hand, and suddenly, the burning sensation that hadconsumed my body vanished, and moments later, the flames vanished as well.
Once the fire was gone, I realized our surroundings had changed, and we were back in our home inWild Crawler. Our house looked exactly the same as it had in the old days when Emmett and I weremarried.
“Is this… an illusion?” I wondered as I stared around.
“You can call it an illusion,” Emmett replied, and when I turned to face him, I realized he was wearingthe usual flannel shirt and jeans combination he used to wear. “Or you can call it the trick of a sorcerer.”
“But you’re dead,” I pointed out. “How can you play tricks now?”
“I may be dead, but a sorcerer can do a lot of things,” he said, and then he gestured toward the kitchentable. “Why don’t you sit down?”
I was baffled but couldn’t allow myself to sit at the same table we’d shared dinner at for so many years.
“I… I can’t,” I said. “I don’t have time, Emmett. I have to save Asher and look for Finnick-”
“Asher and Finnick are alright,” Emmett interrupted me gently, but I shook my head.
“How can you be sure?” I asked suspiciously as I eyed the front door. “How do you know they’re okay,Emmett?”
“I know quite a few things,” he said vaguely, and then he gestured to the table again. “I’ll explain themall to you.”
I stared at him suspiciously. None of this made sense.
“You won’t be able to get back to them anyway if I don’t allow it,” Emmett sighed. “Come now, take aseat and I’ll tell you what’s going on.”
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I frowned but complied anyway. I sat down and glared at Emmett as I settled into my usual chair at thehead of the table.
“This will be our last talk,” Emmett remarked after a moment of hesitation. “I thought it would be a bitmore friendly-”
“How dare you say that after what you did,” I cut him off angrily.
“I didn’t have a choice,” he said calmly. “Things weren’t always under control. I’m sorry for that.”
“You took my wolf soul from me,” I reminded him angrily. “And now you think a simple apology willmake up for it-”
“I understand your anger,
but I’m not sorry for what I did,” Emmett interrupted me sharply. “I’m sorry that I overestimated myselfand my ability.”
“What do you mean?” I demanded as I stared at him in confusion.
My former husband sighed and then spoke.
“Everything started with Asher’s father,” he explained. “Or more precisely, with his regret about hiswife’s death.”
“The old queen?” I wondered.
Emmett nodded. “That’s the reason why the king started to search for sorcerers in the first place. Hewanted to bring Selene Collins back to life.”
I blinked at him in surprise.
“After searching for a long time, he finally noticed Dark Abyss,” Emmett continued. “He made anagreement with my father, the greatest sorcerer at the time. My father was going to help him bring backSelene’s soul and the old king would reinstate sorcerers and rebuild the academy.”
“Ewonmiams,” I muttered, and Emmett nodded.
“Yes,” he confirmed. “Unfortunately, my father’s research didn’t go very well. He found out that if onewanted to bring back someone’s soul, they needed to find a vessel who shared the person’s blood.”
“And the vessel was Asher,” I realized.
Emmett nodded again. “My father had been too confident and too eager. He
wanted to revive the name of sorcerers and restore them to their former glory. But
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after the king had his son take the concoction, my father realized he had failed. He couldn’t link Asherto Selene’s soul. At the same time, he discovered something new. He realized he was able to controlthe little boy’s behavior at his will.”
“Asher’s,” I mumbled as I began to absorb this new information.
“My father was afraid that the king would be angry and decide to kill us,” Emmett continued. “So he hada horrible idea. Could he use Asher to kill the king?”
My jaw dropped.
Had he really just said that?
“Why would he think that?” I demanded.
“If the king was dead, we would not only be safe but Ewonmiams could be restored,” Emmett repliedcalmly. “So, he conspired with the Beta, Oliver Moses. However, Oliver was never a good ally. He sawthe potential of sorcery and wanted my father to manufacture an army for him. Their secret alliancewas noticed by Darrin Felix.”
At the mention of my father’s name, I felt a tightness in my heart.
“Darrin Felix was a man of righteousness,” Emmett continued. “He had grown up with the belief thatsorcery was evil and terrible. He urged the king to capture and execute my father.”
He paused and his eyes softened.
“I believe you’ve already heard the rest of the story,” he said. “My father escaped and the king huntedhim down. My father had to ask for help from Yurene’s king, Kaleb’s father. Kaleb’s father was moresophisticated and regal. He made my father believe that Yurene would provide safety and protection forour family. But it turned out that he wasn’t a good man either. So, my father coaxed him to drink thatconcoction.”
As the puzzle pieces began to fit together, I shook my head slowly and then frowned.
“If that’s true, Asher would have died long ago,” I pointed out. “Why had Kaleb’s father deteriorated soquickly and Asher hadn’t?”