See How She Awakens (The Chronicles of Izzy #4)(33)

“I believe it will.” His unsure reply didn’t do much to calm my nerves.

You will regret doing this. Don’t open your mind’s eye. If you do, you will perish.

The darkness had resurfaced. I hadn’t heard from it in a while, strange it would choose now to reappear. Clearly, there was something trapped in my mind it didn’t want me to remember. Something Kennan and Molly had both tried to show me.

“I need to know,” I answered the darkness.

“Are you ready?” Eleanor’s calming voice came from behind the couch. Her hand rested lightly on my shoulder. It seemed everyone around the Order was growing used to me talking to myself. Aberto still couldn’t discern when I was addressing him or the darkness. Strange, that.

“Yes.” I slowly exhaled as Aberto moved toward me with the stylus. His eyes searching mine, testing to be sure this is what I wanted. Whether I really wanted the mark or not wasn’t important, I had to remember. Right now I was about as useless as they came. If I could remember, maybe I could find a way to stop what was coming.

As the stylus touched my forehead, searing agony ripped through my veins. The darkness was fighting the mark, doing its best to convince me to stop. My resolve hardened as my teeth clamped down against the pain. The darkness resisted, causing my body to arc. Agony boiled in my veins with every small mark.

“Izzy, it has barely started, are you sure you wish to continue?” Aberto asked, his voice laced with fear.

“Finish. It.” I gritted between clamped teeth. Cold sweat broke out over my body as Aberto pressed on. The pain clawed through me as he worked to complete the mark.

“Almost done,” Aberto promised.

A blinding light exploded behind my eyelids as Aberto finished the mark. The pain receded, only to be replaced by memories of things that should never have been forgotten. Visions sprung into focus.

The battlefield loomed before me. It was time to act. Kennan was gone and I had nothing left to live for. I would destroy the demon and end this forever.

The memory played on, visions I wished I’d never have to see again loomed before me. The demon drew near, and when I embraced him, I saw the truth. The truth I’d somehow forgotten. It wasn’t the Old One that had orchestrated the uprising, it had been the Council. Their faces flickered through the mind of the demon as I pulled it under. Damali, Eric, Francesca, and…the other one. The one I’d called Brutus.

They all stood, encircling a strange knotted ring on the ground. In the center lay a Seer, one I’d seen at the Council while I’d been there. She was staked to the ground; her arms and legs pulled painfully outward. Runes covered her, shredding her skin into a pulpy mess. Pure terror shone upon her face as the four chanted. Their voices rose until they reached a feverish chorus. A soul-shattering cry ripped through the room, silencing everything in its wake as the Seer burst into flames, her skin charring instantly. In her place was an inhuman figure with blackened skin, blood oozing from every orifice.

“Arise. May darkness prevail and bring justice to this forsaken world,” Damali spoke to the creature that had been a Seer moments before.

The charred body began to rise, ripping itself free from the stakes binding it to the ground. An eerie smile danced over its lips as it took its first step out of the circle. The moment its foot hit the ground, it dissolved into a pile of ash.

A roar of anger ripped from Brutus’s chest. “We need a stronger Seer. This is not working!” he shouted.

“We have plenty to choose from.” Francesca replied blankly staring off into the distance. I wondered if she ever conveyed any emotions.

“Remember,” Kennan’s voice echoed in my mind. “Remember before it is too late.”

Afflicted by the memories the darkness had kept at bay, my mind seemed to continue expanding. I’d never felt such agony before. Not when I’d exploded on the battlefield, not when Kennan had been ripped from me, nothing could compare to this endless onslaught. The memories burned through my mind, charring a path that led straight to the vision Molly had shown me.

I was standing in what had once been Isadora’s office, back at the Council. It was never really mine. Anchored in front of the desk, my feet unmoving, the vision played out. Where it had once been a blur, the darkness blocking out what it didn’t want me to see, it was now clear.

“You will do this, Seer.” Damali clasped her hands together, leaning toward me. “You are already an abomination, in this you will be redeeming yourself. Do you not wish to earn your place in the heavens? This is what we were called to do.”

I could see in her eyes she truly believed the words she spoke. She somehow thought reigning destruction upon the world would earn her a place in heaven. I’d seen this sort of madness in movies before, but I never thought it could really happen. She had not only convinced herself this madness was the way to gain God’s favor, she’d also managed to gain the support of others. Perhaps her talents were those of persuasion. Regardless, it was madness. Madness I wouldn’t be a part of.





Reality violently ripped back into focus.

“The Council,” I gasped, struggling to sit up.

“What do you mean?” Eleanor looked infuriated. I wasn’t sure if her anger was directed at me, or the information.

“They’re the ones behind this. They’re trying to summon the darkness into life. Sacrificing Seers.” I couldn’t speak in full sentences. My stomach roiled at the memory of the Seer that had been transformed, only to end in a pile of ash. I sat up, putting my head between my legs. I had to get myself under control. The pain was starting to fade, leaving me shaking in its wake.