62. The Death

**MAEVE**

Sedona left me with more questions than she had answered, but all that mattered right now was that Esmeralda was dead. Her corpse lay at my feet, oozing blood all over the place. Despite the cordiality we had shared for the past few months, all facets of liking disappeared with her selfish interests and betrayal. She was so blinded by the loss of her mate that Esmeralda did not even bat an eyelid when she out in the path of treachery, backstabbing each and everyone in her wake.
Absently, my trembling fingers hovered over my neck and touched the Black Opal pendant as I quickly looked down. With the littlest information that Sedona provided me, it was clear that the stone held some mystical value.
So, a fleeting thought crossed my mind.
I tried to perform a spell to lift or break through the boundary spell but came up empty. But I did not give up easily. I kept trying until there was nothing I could do. It was like trying to move a mountain, except I was trapped inside a hellhole.
“I knew you’d cost me, bitch!” The raging ancient witch stormed into the room, and immediately her eyes moved to Esmeralda’s body. And instead of remorse, it angered her further.
“Ametrine, listen to me,” I tried to pacify for self-preservation. “Esmeralda is dead and you don’t have a werewolf to complete the spell either. Give up this madness!”
Ametrine shook her head and laughed sarcastically. “I have waited for centuries, biding my time as the world passed by. You call this a madness? I say it’s a dedication. I will claim what is mine and I will have it at any cost.” That wicked laugh turned into a vicious snarl as she stalked around the bleeding corpse.
“Look around, you vindictive woman! There’s no one around you and all your allies are dead.” I just could not contain the fury and helplessness anymore.
“If you think I have not thought of Plan B, you don’t know me very well. My sister’s betrayal taught me one vital thing - never put all your trust in one place. Which is why I have already summoned another coven to complete the spell.”
A sinking feeling twisted my guts. “What?” I whispered in dread.
“Come in now,” Ametrine raised her voice, and within moments, three women strode inside the room. They were donned in black Kaftans and weird headbands. “Let’s finish the bloody spell and have it done. I can’t wait any longer.”
I tried to sprint away, spinning an attack on Ametrine, but she was too quick to dodge. One of the witches with the dreadlocks raised her hand, murmuring her spell, and immediately threw me across the room. My body collapsed, emitting a sharp pain from the back of my head down the spine.
Fuck. It hurts…everywhere. But nothing like the dreadful, sinking feeling I was experiencing.
“Ametrine, please don’t do this,” I was begging now.
“I wish I had a choice, my dear,” Ametrine said somewhat mockingly. “You see, my twin sister was a sneaky, little bitch. Had she not linked her life with mine and killed us in the process, I wouldn’t have to torture the life out of you. But we are a little short of time and patience. I want you to cooperate or I will have your mate tortured right in front of your eyes.”
“No! You will leave Xander alone!” I gritted out both in pain and anger.
“Sweetheart, you are in position to dictate me.” She turned to the witches, ordering them. “Start the spell. Link her with me, so that I can use her powers as mine.”
It slowly dawned on me that she planned to use my body as a host because her earlier plan had failed. Earlier, she was trying to extract the original power of the psychic through me, and when that did not work, taking over my body and inhabiting it was her Plan B.
“Brace yourself, this will hurt,” one of the witches warned, and before I could register her words, a sharp jolt of electricity ran through my body.
“Agh!” It felt like I was split in two. It happened three more times until every drop of strength was wrung out of my skin. Even lifting a finger seemed like a task.
“What is going on?” I heard Ametrine yelling at the witches through the heavy pants of my breath. “The fire is supposed to turn red.”
“Something is wrong,” one of them replied. “The spell is bouncing back.”
It was either the divine grace of the Almighty or a miracle, but somehow the failure of the completion of the spell was buying me some time. I did not know if Sedona or Xander or anyone was coming for me right now, but even the smallest of reprieve brought me relief.
“This is not possible!” Ametrine enraged. “Try again.”
No sooner she commanded, the pain was inflicted on me. With every passing moment, the agony dug deeper into my skin as if an evil spirit was trying to force it into the very soul of mine.
Xander, where are you? I cried inaudibly. This is not how I was supposed to die.
“If we try this spell anymore and it bounces back, she will die,” the witch with the dreadlock concerned. She was, though, least bothered if I survived, but it was merely her logical deduction.
“I don’t care if she lives or dies! Try it again,” Ametrine barked.
“Please… don’t…” I croaked, writhing on the floor. But anything I said fell on deaf ears.
“This is not possible! This can’t be happening!” Ametrine stomped closer to my body and yanked me up by the hair. Her angry face flashed before my blurring vision as she tried to jerk me by the shoulders.
“What is that?” She whispered curiously, but I barely understood what she was referring to. It was only when her finger clutched the pendant around my neck and tugged, I understood that she was talking about the Black Opal necklace.
“Argh!”
She snagged it off and stared down at it. “How in the name of hell you did get your hands on this pendant? This is… Arietta’s talisman,” she dazedly mumbled to herself. “And that’s why the spells are not working.”
No, no, no.
“Start the spell again,” she ordered the witches. “This time, it won’t fail.”
I hoped against hope that she was wrong and that the spell would bounce back like all the other times before, but luck was clearly not shining on my side. The witches were successful in linking our bodies, and the flame glowed red. And now, all that remained was for the candle to snuff out, and my soul would be lost forever.
“How much time will it take?” Ametrine asked.
“A few minutes, give or take,” came the answer.
“Very well. Leave us. I will stay with Maeve until the flame dies down.”
From the peripheral vision, I watched them leave as Ametrine came closer.
“Please, please.”
The pain takes over a portion of my brain, exhausting, and without the effort of new thoughts. It slowly stole the part of me, my light and laughter, my generous heart. It was the sort of pain that burned as if some invisible flame were held against my skin. The emotions of loss were that way, right? Death, abandonment, or betrayal, they all lead here.
Ametrine raked her nails against my skin. “You see, Maeve, I wanted to do this the right way. But you ruined my plans once again. And now I have to trap your soul and take over your powers and your body.”
“You lying…bitch!” I snarled as I panted. “You’d have killed me anyway.”
“Maybe, but at least you would have died.” She shrugged. “But now, you can neither die nor live. You will just exist — just like I was for centuries.”
I was having difficulty focusing on her wicked face, but I did it nonetheless. I did it because I wanted to see her expression change and watched her crumble underneath the force of her pride.
I simply wanted to see her suffer before I die.
“You made a mistake, Ametrine,” I told her with a weak smirk. “You should not have linked your life with mine.”
“What do you…” Her brows crinkled, and before she realized what I was holding, I *slashed* the stolen knife across my *wrist*.
“No!”
Her wrists started bleeding as well, and in my days as a nurse practitioner, I knew precisely the veins that would be fatal to one’s survival. Witch or not, all of us were human in biological composition.
“You are just a powerless human now…just as vulnerable as I am. You are nothing!”
The pain that once burned like a fire had faded away to an icy numbness. Black filled the edges of my vision, and the only thing I could hear was my own heartbeat. My breath came in ragged, shallow gasps. Seconds passed as I lay there, then I heard voices.
*“I love you, Maeve. I will love you until my last breath,” Xander’s voice floated in.*
I closed my eyes and felt a lone tear slid past the corner. *My fragile, human heartbeat one last time.*

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***A/N: Thank you for unlocking the chapter. I hope you have enjoyed it. And to warn you all… isn’t the end. There’s some more twists and turns left in this story, so stay tuned for the next chapter.
Meanwhile, leave me your feedback and thoughts on the story, please. *