Chapter forty seven (2) ❤

Sybil knew very well she shouldn't have to lead him on. She was a Gemini witch and he was a shifter. They lived in two different worlds. Walking back to her wards, Sybil wondered why she had done it. She was betrothed to a warlock of the Taurus coven. Sybil hated that she let him get close. She hated that he reminded her of Storge.  Her thoughts admonished the need to kiss the werewolf. Because really? He could have marked her there and then an all-out war would break out between the coven of Taurus and Solomon's pack.

  As she got approached the door of her quarters, Sybil's thoughts came to a pause as she remembered the dreamcatcher was still in her possession. She figured she would just seal it in her wardrobe until Queen Persephone requested for it. Yes, concentrating on anything else than Solomon and the sudden kiss was so much better. Sybil let out a sigh when she opened the door and walked in.

All eyes in the room tilted in her direction the minute she walked in. Her sisters were awake. Sybil expected to feel a spark of joy seeing them hale and hearty but she did not. Of course, she was glad they were safe but that feeling wasn't there. Her mind kept lingering in an opposite direction and judging from the expressions her sisters had on, Sybil could tell they weren't even aware of the predicament they had been in. It felt odd considering the fact she had imagined the demon was getting revenge on the second realm for her imprisonment. Sybil however saw it fit that her coven sisters continued to live in their utopia. The imperial Lord of the sky, Zeus would flip if he came to know of what had transpired in the second realm. Everyone had been affected by Murmur's touch; even Persephone. It wouldn't be long before Zeus determined that the failing realm was not a place for lowers and that could not happen. The Grand witch of the Gemini coven had been elated that her witches would be working hand in hand in resurrecting the dying second realm. They had a chance to put their names in history. Sybil convinced herself that was the only reason she hadn't jumped to every witch in the room and cry that they were alive. It was so much better to deflect the truth.

"Where have you been?" Her bunkmate asked, startling her from her thoughts.

"I went for a walk." Sybil lied. "I...also witnessed Mareel," Sybil added when she noticed the girl had her eyes on the spellbook and dreamcatcher. "It was beautiful. Just like we read in the books."

"Is that a dreamcatcher?" The girl continued with her question.

Sybil frowned, getting sick of the girl's antics. At least it managed to get her mind off Solomon.

"Yes," Sybil answered, heading to her wardrobe and dropping the book and dreamcatcher before sealing it off with a lock spell.

Sybil then proceeded to collapse on her bed. A furry black cat the size of a dog proudly hopped on to the bedding to greet her, it swished its tail in Sybil's face and mewed as if comforting her.

"Hello, Storge." Sybil smiled, combing her fingers through the thick dark fur of her familiar.

"Meow!" The creature purred. Its bright slits practically disapproving of Sybil's thought.

Familiars shared a certain telepathic bond with their witches. It was one of the ways familiars found their way to their witches if they were ever in danger or needed a therapeutic conversation. In this case, little Storge wanted her to forget about Solomon and to stop questioning if she saved Talia for his sake. Sybil knew deep within she did not save Talia because she was that good of a person and while she would never admit being attracted to the werewolf, one thing she did know was the consequences of a prophecy was coming to Solomon's side very fast. Once Talia found out about her mother, She would become another walking Simon and that meant their loved ones took the end of the stick. Sybil suspected fate would repeat itself yet again and there was a savior syndrome burning within her to salvage such a turn of events. Except she had gotten the chance to stop it and she chose to save Talia. It had nothing to do with her attraction to Solomon. If that had been the case, She would have let Persephone finish the job in a heartbeat. So the question was why did she save Talia Trueborn?

***
It was much too early for a social call like breakfast or brunch but Talia felt the need to go. Her bad luck had just gotten worse and it felt like the entire universe could see right through her. Why? Persephone was right. Did that justify all she had to go through in the hands of the goddess? Her father did have plans for her and that was to force out the power now raging through her blood. He had abandoned her for almost eighteen years and when he suddenly made an appearance, It had been to coerce her to use divinity even at the cost of her life. It wasn't just a random out of the blues event. Talia could paint a meaning to her broken world now. Persephone had known all along. She existed to cause the goddess further pain. Talia wished she could mention it but she feared what trouble that would spell for her so she did what any smart person would do in situations like this; Act like nothing has changed.

A knock on her newly installed doors threw all her personal convictions out the window.

"Who is there?" She stuttered.

"His Highness asked us to tend to you." A voice returned causing Talia to open the door. She stared at the petite blonde servants who seemed exhausted having to carry out a large wooden tub to her wards. Talia didn't get why showers couldn't be installed in every room but it seemed the gods were lost when it came to technology.

"What is this?" Talia asked, looking behind to see there were others carrying pitchers of water.

"It is the Prince's orders." They replied.

Talia begrudgingly let them drag the tub into the room and set it by the window. She had no problem going to River to have her bath but these servants were just doing their jobs. It would be messed up for her to unnecessarily lash out at them for no reason. Not to mention that was a perfect way to convince people there was a perfect reason why 'this demigod' is hated. Plus Talia needed a warm bath at the moment. She needed to relax before she could even think about showing her face at breakfast. She had to scrub away her fears and unwind.

As the servants continued to fill up the tub with hot water, out of the corner of her eye, Talia noticed another maid walk in with some sort of dress in her arms. The girl propped in with a bow and dripped the attire atop the fur bed. Once the tub was half full, the servants collectively curtseyed and pranced outside, leaving Talia alone to soak. Talia shut the door after the last one had left and turned to the bed.

A beautiful scarlet-red dress laid on top of the covers. She crossed the room to it and gazed down at the gauzy layers of fabric and the elegant silver metalwork of the corset beside it. It took her breath away. She had never seen anything so beautiful and refined.

A vision of her walking into the dining table and Denys going wild for her the moment he set eyes on her rose into her mind only to be shut out by a wicked reminder that she was threading unsafe waters and it was about to get even murkier. Talia reminded herself she was not honoring Denys' invitation for his sake. She had a selfish reason for it. Her number one mission at the time being was to get her chanced encounter with Hades out of her head. She couldn’t let a teenage girl's crisis get the better of her. She couldn’t get too close to the enemy's son. Talia remembered the horrible image she had seen with her eyes when she glanced into Denys' thoughts. She had relived his horrible memories and one was losing his brother thanks to Hades. Talia feared that was why she was here; To put out Persephone's last candle.



**AUTHOR NOTE**
LOVE IS SACRIFICE. DO NOT FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT.