He cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably on the ground. “Even if what you’re saying is true,” he said, sitting up straighter against the wall, “why are you telling me this? How can I trust you?”
“As I said, I’m working to stop the black witches. They are about to perform a ritual which, if successful, would have repercussions for all creatures weaker than them. That includes vampires. I have already had a glimpse of the horrors they can inflict on others, and I do not want them rising to prominence. The reason I took you from the chamber is that I need you to help us. Lilith is key to the ritual because she is the last Ancient living among us. Without her, I doubt they will ever grow stronger than they are now.”
There was a pause. I stared at the vampire, trying to read his expression. It seemed quite blank, though his eyes had darkened. “I would trust more what you’re saying if you would release me from this curse you have me under,” he said, looking down at his paralyzed legs.
“I’m sorry,” I said, before obliging.
He kicked his legs and got to his feet. He walked closer, towering over me and looking me over intensely before beginning to pace up and down in front of me.
“I’ve known all along the type of magic Lilith practices,” he said. “That has never been a secret from me. Black magic runs in her family. It is no surprise to me that all this is happening now, many centuries later—if you are indeed telling the truth and centuries have passed. I lived in those days when the Ancients ruled. When vampires and all other creatures avoided crossing paths with them at all costs. I only came across Lilith by chance… and, as fate would have it, we fell in love. In my view, if they carry out the ritual with Lilith, the situation will be no different now than it was then. I’m already used to living in hiding, in solitude. Nothing you’ve said has convinced me I should help you.”
My stomach sank, and I hesitated before asking my next question. “Do… Do you really still love her?”
His eyes fixed on his feet, then he turned his back on me and stared out at the beautiful view of The Sanctuary the hilltop palace afforded.
“Yes,” he said finally. “I love her now, just as I loved her before.”
“So the fact that she manipulated that love for her own personal gain means nothing to you?”
He didn’t answer my question. He just remained silent.
“You do realize that the form she’s in now is artificial,” I pressed. “It’s not her true form. It’s just a mirage, covering the darkness and evil that she has become—”
He scoffed. “Don’t talk to me of darkness and evil. I’m a child of the Elders, for Christ’s sake. Cruor was practically my birthplace. I’ve seen more darkness and evil than you will ever witness if you live ten thousand years.” He turned around to face me. “I don’t see where this conversation is going.”
“Magnus, you have not experienced what it is like to live without the Ancients reigning supreme. It seems you’ve never experienced a life without hiding and living in anxiety. You don’t know freedom. If you did, you would be fighting alongside us and doing whatever it took to prevent the black witches from rising to power again. Will you allow me to give you a taste of what your life could be if you agreed to help us?”
“It could be like heaven. I don’t care. It’s not reason enough for me to work against Lilith.”
I was beginning to feel desperate. As much as I hated myself for it, the words Xavier had spoken before we left The Shade flitted through my mind:
“Do we have to kill Magnus in order to end Lilith?”
I had dismissed Xavier’s suggestion at the time. I’d said that all we needed to do was break Lilith’s heart. Because I hadn’t wanted to even consider the idea of murdering another person. I had enough blood on my hands already. Now the question haunted me: what if I couldn’t get Magnus to cooperate? Should I just let him go? The consequences of that action could mean countless more deaths.
What if we have to sacrifice his life in exchange for saving innumerable others?
No. I can’t murder again. I just can’t do it.
The lives I’d claimed in the past still haunted me at night sometimes. I couldn’t bear to add to that list.
I have to get through to this vampire somehow.
“Magnus,” I said, fighting to keep my voice steady. “Did you not hear what I said about Lilith using you?”
“I heard you,” he said. “But whatever motivation she had for keeping me alive doesn’t change the past we shared, nor the fact that she still loves me. You admitted yourself that she would not be alive if it weren’t for the strength of her love for me that keeps her heart beating.”
Damn you, Magnus.
I racked my brain for what else I could say to convince him.
Maybe I just need to show him what she actually looks like now.
Paralyzing him again, I pushed him back against the wall and placed my hands on either side of his head. Summoning the memory of Lilith in her true corpse-like form, I surged the vision into his brain through my fingertips. His eyes shut tight as the image blasted through his mind. Once I was sure that he’d had enough time to take it in, I let go again, watching closely for his reaction.
To my dismay, he hardly blinked.
“That is Lilith’s true form.” I grabbed his shoulders and shook him. “Don’t you see the abomination she has become? You allowed her to become like this.”