Page 11 of Crimson Devotion (The Sacred Seven #1)

ELEVEN

Faith

I ran out of the room, and Ophelia didn’t follow after me.

For the first time, it seems she’s gotten the hint that her presence isn’t wanted.

Although the thought of being away from her is tugging on something in my chest, I need time alone to think all of this through, to try to understand why this has happened, and what I’m supposed to do next.

I’m wandering the halls of the castle, the parts I haven’t gotten the chance to explore yet. Every corridor resembles the previous one, and just as I’m about to turn around and walk back in the direction I came from, something causes me to freeze.

On my right is a flight of staircases leading down to the basement, and I remember the warning Ophelia gave me. Lucifer is down there, and given the tiny, quiet voice I’m hearing, my curiosity piques.

Is Ophelia not hearing this? Because from where I’m standing, the voice is evident. Although it’s hushed, it’s there, and Ophelia would’ve told me if any of her other siblings were coming. She’d at least have the decency to mentally prepare me for the chaos this family represents.

The torches don’t light the way down; instead, they’re on the walls, covered in cobwebs, as if they haven’t been used in centuries.

Slowly, and as silently as possible, I walk down the stairs, my vision adjusting to the pitch black of the narrowed stairs.

On the bottom is a door made out of metal.

It looks heavy, and it’s opened just enough to let in the breeze from the massive windows upstairs.

I push the door open, and the scene in front of me shocks me to my core.

There’s a casket in the middle of the room. It’s made out of snow-colored wood, and the cushions inside are in the same red as their eyes. There lays Lucifer, his hands clasped together just below his chest, his long hair let loose to fall over his chest.

But next to him is Yvonne.

She’s wearing one of her floor-length, satin dresses in a deep shade of green. Her white hair falls past her waist, decorated in emeralds, her hand stroking Lucifer’s hair softly.

The moment she hears a commotion, she turns around, facing me. For a moment, her eyes widen, but it’s not the fact that she’s seeing me — it’s the state she’s seeing me in. She takes a couple of steps forward, brow furrowing in confusion.

“Faith,’’ she breathes out, reaching up to touch my cheek. “You’re one of them.’’

I swallow, then nod.

“Did you want to become one?”

“No.’’

A deep sigh of relief comes from her, the tension in her shoulders lessening significantly. Her bright blue eyes bore into mine, and for a couple of moments, she’s silent. She’s observing me, judging even.

Then, she walks past me, shuts the door, and mutters a soft spell. It’s one I’ve heard her use before, and she basically makes sure no one would be able to hear us talk outside this room. My eyes fall back on Lucifer, and he looks like he’s just about to wake up from his deep slumber.

“Why did you come here?” I ask, returning my attention to the witch. “More importantly, how?”

Yvonne mulls the answer over in her head, chewing on her bottom lip. She approaches me, and the chain necklaces wrapped around her neck jiggle, the gold glimmering under the candlelight of the basement.

“Sit.’’ She motions toward a chair in the corner, and I don’t know why, but I listen. She returns to stand next to Lucifer, stroking his hair again, but her expression holds no affection. Instead, all I see is pure hatred, her jaw clenches, her hands curling around the strands of his hair.

“Tell me, Yvonne.’’

“By now, I assume you know the past that binds me to these…creatures.’’

I nod. “Yes.’’

“See, when I was looking for a way to reverse the spell — vampirism — or to find a way to permanently kill all seven of them, I stumbled across an old witch.’’

“Older than you?” I ask, cocking my head to the side.

Yvonne turns to look at me. “No, not older than me. She’s about a hundred years younger.

You see, the reason I’m immortal is because of the power of my coven.

They gave me immortality as a parting gift, so I could be able to seek revenge and successfully end the ones who harmed us.

But when they were killed, their spellbooks disappeared, too.

That’s why I messed up the spell and turned D’Achille family into vampires.

I was a baby witch, and I was doing a complex spell by memory, which, in retrospect, was a terrible idea to begin with. ’’

“Did you find the spellbooks?”

She snorts. “No. Then I ran into Lucifer, and the motherfucker was taunting me for weeks before I put him to sleep. And once I was certain he’d be out of my way, I returned home. There was a little gift on my bed, waiting for me.’’

My eyebrows lift to my hairline. “A gift?”

Yvonne hums. “Yes, it came from Lucifer. He sent it before I put him down, but since I wasn’t home, I had no way of seeing it earlier. The motherfucker knew where the spellbooks were.’’

“Why don’t you just wake him up and ask him?”

A deep, chilling laughter comes from Yvonne, but it’s void of any real humor. Her eyes soften, sadness overtaking them. As her gaze dips back down to Lucifer, I see her struggling to keep it all in.

“Because this isn’t just a simple spell, Faith. It’s a curse. And to reverse one, or at least, stop it, takes a lot of sacrifice.’’

“Human sacrifice?”

Yvonne nods. “Curses aren’t natural. They’re created with the darkest, most dangerous magic one could summon. Nature has its way of finding balance. If you want to create one, to undo it, you must sacrifice something else. Oftentimes, it’s either human lives, or the witch’s soul.’’

My eyes fall to my lap. Yvonne is a lot of things, but she isn’t a killer.

I don’t even want to know what she must’ve done in order to put Lucifer to sleep, or the price she’d need to pay to wake him up.

Whatever it was she’s done, it’s still haunting her, even though it’s been over two hundred years at this point.

“Witches were made by Mother Nature when she needed us the most. We were supposed to be the protectors to restore the balance to the world that the human race has destroyed. All the wars, all the death, all the pain — we were supposed to help the world heal. But when my coven, my family, were killed because of the D’Achilles…

’’ Yvonne pauses, jaw clenching, eyes filling with tears of anger.

“I forgot my purpose. And it’s catching up with me, Faith. ’’

“What do you mean?”

“Karma is a very real thing.’’ She chuckles, turning her back to me to wipe the tears. Yvonne’s always seen crying in front of someone else as one of the biggest weaknesses, and it’s very rare to see her even a little vulnerable.

“I know,’’ I whisper, then clear my throat. “But it doesn’t explain how you came here.’’

“For some godforsaken reason, a lot of witches love the Sacred Seven, worship them, even. And some have put a protective barrier around this place, which is the reason I was unable to locate it, even with all my powers. Without knowing who the witches are, it’s useless.’’

Everything clicks in place with that one, simple statement. My eyes widen a fraction, mouth opening slightly. Yvonne looks at me with something akin to guilt, but she swallows it down before it’s there to prove my theory correct.

“The necklace you gave me wasn’t a protective one, was it?”

“It was.’’ Yvonne’s quick to defend herself. “But it wasn’t just that. The moment it was ripped off your neck, the magic inside broke the barrier around the castle, and I was able to find it.’’

“But to what end goal? To wake up Lucifer?”

Yvonne nods. “I’ve found a way. But that way will take some time, so in the meantime, I’ve left him a little gift to wake up to.’’

A frown etches onto my face, and Yvonne smiles.

She pulls out a small piece of paper from her pocket — yes, all of her dresses have pockets because she sews them herself — and folds it twice. Then, she carefully puts it on the inside pocket of Lucifer’s blazer, smoothing out the fabric to perfection.

“What did you do, Yvonne?”

“Once upon a time, before his womanizer time, Lucifer was head over heels for a human girl. It was long before I put him to sleep, and would you believe it, he actually married the human girl?”

“What?” I blink, completely immersed in the story.

Yvonne hums. “Yes, but after being unable to feed for quite some time, his wife ended up cutting herself. Well, he went berserk and killed her while feeding on her. Isn’t that just ironic?

He was the one who taught his siblings how to control their thirst, only for him to kill his wife because he couldn’t control his urges.

Well, the curse I put on him also has the dream aspect. ’’

“He’s dreaming right now?”

Yvonne smirks. “Having a nightmare, to be precise. The night when he killed his wife, over and over again, without being able to prevent it, or to wake up. And in the meantime, I’ve taken hostage the only thing he holds dear.’’

“What did you take, Yvonne?” My voice comes out more accusatory than necessary, but she chooses to ignore it.

“The last thing he has left of her — her locket. With the only picture of the two. Undoubtedly, when he wakes up, he’ll want it back, and he’ll come looking for it.’’

Yvonne’s a fucking ruthless, callous witch.

The fact that he put Lucifer to sleep, forcing him to relive what I could only assume is the darkest part of his life, to be trapped in his own trauma for the past two hundred years is unimaginable.

A shiver runs down my spine at the thought, and for a moment, I’m glad I’ve never pissed Yvonne off enough to do something similar to me.

“I’m shocked you managed to sneak in past Ophelia,’’ I murmur. “You do have a specific smell.’’

She chuckles. “One that I can hide well. Now, I’ve done what I came here for. I’ll be leaving, and do not dare utter a word that I was here.’’

I swallow, the threat behind her words not going unnoticed. I nod and stand up from the chair. Yvonne approaches me, then takes off her golden earrings. She holds them in her hand for a couple of seconds, a soft, white glow illuminating from her palm. Then, she opens it, looking at me.

“Take them. They’re for the Sun. And give Lucifer his bracelet back; he’ll need it.’’

My eyebrows narrow in suspicion, and without questioning her, I take the pair of earrings from her, holding them tightly in my hand.

“Oh, and Faith?”

“Yes?”

Yvonne’s whole demeanor shifts. She’s serious, and she’s looking at me like I’m the enemy. “I know you didn’t want this, but the moment I even so much as hear about you killing a human, or feeding on one, I’ll kill you myself.’’

“I won’t. I promise.’’

“Good.’’ She nods. “If you need anything, you know where to find me.’’

“What should I do about the agency?”

“I’ll say you died. That’s the only way. Otherwise, they’ll come for you.’’

My heart clenches at the thought. Memories flood my mind for a couple of seconds.

All the good, all the bad that I’ve experienced over the years.

All the training, the late nights getting drunk in our dorms, or skipping classes to smoke with my colleagues.

But a part of me knows this is something that needs to happen. For their safety, and my own.

“Okay.’’

Yvonne’s eyes fall to my neck, to the small, pink two dots. Her eyebrows lift to her hairline, a teasing smirk on her lips as he looks back at me. “My, my, fated mates? How incredibly rare.’’

I groan. “Any help with that?”

“I’ll send you some books that might help,’’ she offers. “Though, it’s so rare that even the written text isn’t completely accurate. But it might give you an idea of how to navigate the situation.’’

“Thank you, Yvonne.’’

“Don’t thank me. The worst is yet to come for you, Faith. Be ready.’’