SERAPHINE POVMy day was just beginning. The sun was barely peeking through misty curtains. I heaved a breath as I swung my legs off my bed. It was not the joy I needed but far more my fingers gingerly tracing the wood flooring, a movement both purposeful and absent. I was in my daily routine. I tried to bring order and just accepted the harsh reality, “For three days, I’ve scrimped on self-care, pressed into work and routines. Not a reward to myself. This work, a tiny step. Something to the prophet.” “Or far inside my head just pondering mysteries, I did not in careless bated breath and omit sub text too. Answering the whys? The hows? The end just stops? Them becoming loose, moving aimless and dodging responsibility.”I gave an answer to my trains of thoughts and, too self imposed, never ending circles of tradition and claws. The answer was an odd calm yet angrily made the self addicted to patterns. Something far more describes the approach of trying.I paused in front of the mirro
ELARA POV I walked back to class. At this point, I had thought till the end of the lecture, I was quite simply too motorized. I had witnessed and known it to be true. That whisper... that strange object... and the way Veronica and Seraphine kept looking over their shoulders.By the time I got to the dormitory, Lila was sitting on her bed, legs crossed, she was scrolling through her phone. Her focus was fixed there."Hey," I said.She looked at me right away. "Hey... You look like you've seen a ghost. Don't tell me the professor finally ate someone alive."I gave her a laugh that was immediately stifled. "Well, no... It's... It's Seraphine and Veronica. I think they did something to me."Lila's fans became confused. "Something? Like what?"I sat down on the edge of my bed. "Remember when I told you I felt something just blow against me in the hallway yesterday? I'm starting to think... that wasn't on purpose. This morning, you told me I looked pale, weaker. And in class today, I swea
ELARA POV“Yeah, maybe,” was her response, though the tone lacked confidence. “Still… be cautious around those two.” I remained silent. Her parting coffee observation had more impact than she could have realized. I sat at the edge of my bed .“Lila…” I started choosing my words carefully . Lila remains stationary in her seat. “Yeah?”“I just remembered something.”Her brows furrowed. “Go on.”I rubbed my temples. “Yesterday… after class… when I passed Seraphine and Veronica. I think—” I hesitated, “—I think Seraphine blew something at me. From behind.”Lila straightens, her eyes narrowing. “Blew something at you? Like what.”“I don’t know. It was… weird. This tiny rush of air at the back of my neck. I thought maybe a breeze from the hallway, but…” I shook my head. “Too deliberate.”Lila, leaning against her desk, arms crossed, asks, “Did you turn around?” “No. I was already halfway to the stairs. But when I glanced back, she and Veronica were smiling. Not the friendly kind.”Li
VERONICA POV Seraphine stared at me. Her lip was shaking, but I saw the zeal in her eyes—the same fire I’d seen the day she told me she wouldn’t give her seat to anyone. Not even the Moon Goddess. “I’ll pay the price.” She said, “Seraphine,” I said. “Are you sure?” She nodded. “If I don’t do this, I might lose everything. I might lose him. I might lose my place. I might lose myself.” The Prophet clapped her hands—once. The candles flickered and the room dropped several degrees. We could see our breath. “If that is what you desire. Then the pact shall be made.” She picked up the silver dagger which hung on a glimmering chain. To some, it may have seemed like the dagger was letting out some of its life force.“i need three drops of your blood. One for what you’ve lost. One for what you crave. One… for what must be destroyed.” Seraphine didn’t wince. She held out her palm. The Prophet sliced—lightly. Blood welled and dripped into a black bowl filled with ash and bone dust.The
VERONICA POV I did not want to make Seraphine more frightened than she already was, but what I was about to do with her was certainly not something I imagined I would be partaking in. Well, here we are. She was in trouble, and I had one contact who did not deal with logic, love advice, or therapy. Rather, he dealt with forces—real, ancient, and dark.“Seraphine,” I said softly as we got into the car. “I need you to trust me. We are not going to any therapist or a priest.” She stared at me.“Then where are we going?”“To a... somewhere. Someone who knows and sees things. He can, with sufficient courage, shift the tides.”“A prophet?” I hesitated. “Yes, but not the type you meet in daylight or in the church. He is... different.”A look of defeat splayed across her features, as her hands raised above her lap momentarily.Her hand tightened around her lap, but she nodded. “Okay. I trust you, Vee.” The road leading to the Black Magic Prophet was neither a road nor a path any sane i
SERAPHINE POVShe paused before responding. “He said he needed to talk to someone. He sounded confused.” I slowly asked, “Confused about what?” Sitting straighter, I tried to brace myself to receive whatever was coming.As if on repeat, “he told me he’s losing interest,” Veronica remarked. My breath was captive to my chest as the ground tried climbing underneath my feet, all semblances of losing my reality. The feeling I had, slipped away like a delicate sensation.Hoping against hope, I turned my gaze to Veronica, wishing that she would burst out with laughter and say it was some crude joke. A part of me wanted to believe that Kael was trying to plan some elaborate surprise and panic acted as the plot twist. But she didn’t, and my hopes crumbled to dust. “W-what?” I fired from the hip. “He said that to you?”As me and her started Veronica, still preoccupied with her hands, fixed her sight onto the floor and meekly nodded. “I didn’t know if I should tell you, but I can't keep