---- 280. ILLUSIONS AND REMORSE NARRATOR Frederick walked, oblivious to the danger, along a path lined with twisted, ugly trees. This was his inner world, a kind of enchanted, macabre forest, just like him. At the end of the path a table, a chair, some papers, and, most important, another box holding his prized relic were waiting. But the moment he lifted the lid and stretched out his fingers, a different scent tipped him off. Footsteps halted nearby; someone was behind him.

    How had he not sensed it before?! Without losing a second, he grabbed that horrible face whose eyes opened, full of agony, and pressed it over his own, He spun around, feeling pain ripple through him as it sucked his blood. It was awful, every sensation he experienced, but if someone had found him this fast, then she was powerful "Who are you, and how did you get where you weren''t invited?!" ---- Frederick tried to make his voice soundmanding, though it came out as a mix of feminine tones.

    He looked, half panicked, at the beautiful woman with short ck hair and disgusted green eyes. "Lavinia, I was about to get mad that you summoned me for something this simple, but I admit I''ve changed my mind," she said to the empty air and took a few steps forward. Frederick edged back carefully. This woman wasn''t normal, he could feel it. And she wasn''t even a little afraid of this thing''s power, she looked pissed off.

    "How dare you, a worm like you, chain the souls of so many witches?!" She roared and lunged at him so fast he saw only a blur streak through the air. When he tried to open his mouth to cast, ws slipped between his lips and started yanking his tongue out. His real tongue, right through the mask! Her other hand mped his neck, nails digging in, and began to lift him, cutting off his air.

    Cold sweat exploded over Frederick''s trembling body as he ---- stared into the woman''s ghostly green eyes Power, crushing power he couldn''t imitate. Gasping for air, feet dangling and trying to keep his tongue and his head, he did something extreme he never thought he''d do. "I''ll give you freedom if you save me, I swear it this time with my soul on the line!" he shouted to the spirits of those sorceresses, who went wild.

    The chains of fate coiled around Frederick''s ck soul; he had sworn of his own free will, and there was no going back. They decided to help him onest time, because a known evil was better than an unknown good... and he couldn''t fool them anymore. When Electra saw those tainted eyes darting madly and felt the temperature spike, she knew she needed to back off-but it was toote.

    The sh of light blinded her pupils and, when they refocused, she was in a ce she would never forget, not even as a specter thousands of years old. Her room, the wing that belonged to her in the De Croix mansion. Where she grew up, where she lived part of her two lives.style

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