CHAPTER 86: THE GIRL WITH HELL’S SHADOW

Sylas inhaled slowly, a breath that sounded more like an attempt at restraint than air. He reached toward Zeke, fingers poised to pry the boy away from the unmoving body in his arms.

Zeke clung tighter.

His voice was wrecked, "I can’t. I...I can’t let him go. He’s still warm. He— he has to be..."

Sylas’s tone was too soft for the devastation carved into it, "Kai," He said softly, "Look at him. He isn’t breathing,"

Zeke’s fingers twitched, and his pupils trembled like shattering glass.

He knew. He just needed someone else to say it for him.

Sylas reached out again, this time firmer, pulling gently at Zeke’s grasp. Zeke resisted, his teeth clenched hard enough to bleed.

"Hellcat wouldn’t die this easily," Zeke choked, "It’s not...he won’t. He would never..."

Sylas swallowed, jaw flexing tightly.

Zeke shook violently from grief, still unwilling to let go.

But before Sylas could speak again, a sound split the night.

A low-frequency hum echoed from the black mouth of the forest just beyond them, followed by a thunderous roar that shook the grounds. It roared with the wind, like a small earthquake and hurricane had just hit at the same time.

Zeke gripped Theo even tighter, his pulse racing, "What the hell was that?"

Just then, dark mist leaked from The Hallow like the forest had just exhaled rot. It looked like the same mist that spilt out of the veil.

Slowly, Sylas stood and the air tightened around him like drawn wire. When he spoke, his voice lowered to a deadly warning, "We need to get out of here," He murmured, "Something is coming,"

"What do you mean something is coming?" Zeke looked up at him, "Aren’t the wards strong enough to keep whatever is in here trapped there forever?"

"Not exactly,"

Zeke looked down at Theo, then back up at Sylas, confusedWhat do you mean by that?"

The mist swept forward, cold as drowned graves. Sylas quickly stepped back, "Don’t let it touch you!" He warned.

Zeke quickly stepped back, carrying her, but it was as though the mist was targeting him. It suddenly dispersed quickly, catching Zeke off guard and curling around his legs.

It curled up, and then it touched Theo. The moment it touched her, a shudder rolled over her corpse.

Zeke sucked in a breath and looked down at her "Hellcat...?"

A bad feeling crept up his veins.

Suddenly, her veins ignited. Black and molten gold surged beneath her skin, glowing like they were filled with liquid night. The cold bled out of her body with frightening speed, replaced by an unnatural heat.

A voice cut through the forest, its tone echoing, "Mine,"

Zeke and Sylas looked up, chills rolling down their spine.

"You’re mine," The voice repeated.

"The Veil..." Sylas murmured again.

"What Veil?" Zeke yelled, staring between the darkness and Sylas, "What the hell is going on here?"

Theodora’s fingers twitched, and both of them looked at her.

Then, her eyes snapped open.

There were no whites.

No iris.

Just endless black.

Zeke stopped breathing.

Sylas got insane goosebumps, alarm screaming at the back of his head.

Then, her lips curved into a smile.

At least, that was what it looked like. She looked terrifying and the smile was too cruel.

It was absolutely nothing like her.

Then, her lips moved again, "I’m not a big fan of wolves,"

Again, the voice was different. It sounded too deep but a lot more feminine.

Zeke recoiled, his wolf snarling inside of him at whatever he was holding. She had no heartbeat and no scent. Only power, along with an aura that was so dense it made it difficult to breathe.

In the blink of a heartbeat, everything exploded.

Black force blasted outward like a shockwave, ripping through the path. Zeke was thrown backwards, but he never hit the ground.

Sylas was suddenly there, his arm locked around Zeke’s waist, dragging him out of the blast radius with inhuman speed. The ground where Zeke had sat was now cratered, charred black.

If Sylas hadn’t moved, Zeke would be ash.

Zeke looked up at Sylas just as he released him, shocked out of his mind. His reaction time was too complicated for him to fathom, and he noticed how the shadows wrapped around Sylas, and the cold in his skin oozed even harder.

He had felt this kind of cold before.

That night, she had been drunk, and he had slept fine alone - Sylas must have been the one who visited him that night.

"This is not good," Sylas said quietly, staring ahead of them.

Zeke also looked.

In the middle of the ruined earth stood Theodora.

Or whatever wore her skin.

Her short red hair whipped wildly in a wind that wasn’t there and dangling causally in her hand was the pendant that was supposed to be around her neck.

She stared at it for a moment, then down at herself and murmured again in that different voice, "I thought I was female...," she tilted her head a bit, "Oh, whatever...,"

"Hellcat...," Zeke murmured, then a scream followed, "What the hell have you done to her body!?"

Theo looked up.

Her gaze remained on Zeke for a second like she was actually seeing him for the first time. She smirked again, her dark eyes glinting with something far beyond his comprehension, then, her gaze slid over to Sylas.

She paused for a longer time, and something between recognition, interest and hunger flashed through her eyes.

"Erebos," She said softly, almost seductively, in fact, "What are you doing here?"

Zeke’s eyes narrowed. What the hell was Erebos?

Sylas just stared at her. He didn’t say a word.

"Aren’t you Erebos?" She asked again, and gave him a quick once over, "I know I’m not wrong. You’re Erebos,"

Deep inside the forest, the terrifying roar came again.

She glanced back like it was a call, "Silence doesn’t suit you, my ex-lover. But I guess maybe you’re still mad at me for dumping you for my mate,"

Then, she turned around.

"Till we meet again, Erebos,"

Then, she began walking into the forest again, and the mist curled around her like smoke.

Zeke shook with emotions threatening to crumble him down. He couldn’t just stand there and watch whatever that creature was that had suddenly taken over Hellcat’s body leave.

Absolutely not.

"No!" Sylas gripped his shoulders the moment he took a step forward.

"What do you mean, no?!" Zeke snapped, "You’re telling me to just stand here and watch him go?"

"No," Sylas replied, an eye twitching like he was also doing everything he could to hold himself back from going after her right this moment, "I’m saying we need a plan before we go after Thad," He breathed, "And that I need to explain some things to you before we go,"

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