We fell and fell through the darkness. This wasn't like the first time I had been pulled into Matilda's shadow, where I was dropped into the floating dark; instead it was like we were falling through the Earth itself, headed God knows where. Falling forever.

Then, as quickly as the darkness had swallowed us up, it spit us out. Luc twisted away just in time to avoid landing on top of me, but we still landed hard. My head bounced against the hard cold floor. Bright spots filled my vision, half-blinding me.

"Where... are we?" I mumbled.

"Some kind of prison cell," Luc said, his voice taut. He didn't seem to be as disoriented as I was. I could hear him moving around, his rough footsteps echoing off the walls.

I could only believe him as I waited for the spots to fade from my sight. I fumbled along the floor. It was made of rough stone, the uneven shapes cold under my fingers. I felt along until I reached the edge of the room, my hands meeting the wall which was also made of stone. The air smelt damp, touched with just a tinge of metal.

Luc's footsteps continued to crunch as they moved across the floor. He was pacing.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

Luc gave a strange laugh, a sound I had never heard from him before. It was wild... unhinged. "As well as I can be, all things considered."

All things considered...

I debated trying to stand, but I could still barely see.

Suddenly Luc's footsteps were much closer. He crouched down beside me. Through the spots, I watched as his eyes traced the features of my face. He was looking at me but... he wasn't seeing me. Though he was inches away, he felt very far away.

"How are you?" he asked.

"Fine," I said, pushing away from him. I tried to get to my feet, but my head swam and my knees wobbled. I stumbled sideways—

Luc caught my elbow and guided me to a simple wooden bench. He set me down and immediately dropped my elbow and stepped back.

"How are you, Rachel?" he asked again. "Really?"

His question was insulting. How the fuck do you think I am?

I closed my eyes, the spots flashing on the back of my eyelids. It was making me feel dizzy... I didn't even know where to start. I didn't want to start. "Like I said, I'm fine. What about you?" I snapped, turning to shoot a half-blind glare at him. "How are you?"

His shoulders sank and, for a second, he looked like the man I knew again. Then he blinked and his face hardened once again. "Fine."

"Great to hear," I said, sinking back. The stone wall at my back was cold. It felt good against my throbbing head so I leaned into it, turning to press my forehead against it.

Luc began pacing again. I let his steps become background noise.

Finally the spots began to fade and I was able to take a look at the room for myself. Luc had been right—the room was definitely a cell, a simple round room made entirely of stone, with a single metal door molded to the curve of the wall, and a small, narrow window opposite. Luc was striding between the two, back and forth, back and forth.

This place looked more medieval than modern. There was nothing in this city that could be so old. Were we even in the same country? Or had Matilda's shadow tossed us across the Atlantic and into the tower of some ancient castle?

"How're we going to get out of here?"

"We're not," Luc said, turning sharply to start another pass of the room.

"What?"

"There's no way I can get us out of here. The protections on this room are..." He let out a shuddering breath. "I've never seen anything quite like this. Though, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised The Gathered would go all out..."

I turned to focus him, remembering all the weird little things that had passed between him and Matilda and Polly. Apparently there was a lot that I hadn't been told about. "The Gathered?"

He froze, stopping just before the door. It was like he had forgotten who he was speaking to—forgot that I wasn't supposed to know.

"Who are they?" I said, standing up. I didn't wobble this time. "You can't keep hiding this shit from me, Luc." I spread my arms wide, gesturing to the ancient prison we were standing in, like he could've missed it somehow. "I'm in this, too. And I know that you hate that, but there's not really a way to avoid it now, is there?"

He let out a sigh. "I suppose not."

"Then start talking. Who are they? Why are they helping Matilda go after me? Why is this any of their business?"

"Because Matilda is one of them, and this is what they do."

I dropped my arms. "What they do?"

He turned back to me. In the dim light the shadows under his eyes looked so much worse. "They're an ancient order of psychics who have dedicated themselves to protect this world from the evil things that lurk beyond the veil. They perform cleansings, bindings, protections, and, yes, exorcisms. They believe it is their divine purpose."

"That sounds like a good thing," I said, doubt colouring my voice.

"Just because they have righteous goals does not mean they have righteous methods," Luc said, a frown forming in his brow. "Though the ultimate goal of The Gathered is to rid this world of evil they are... unforgiving in their execution. Anything that falls outside of their idea of 'acceptable' is discarded or destroyed. Even people, you may have noticed."

I stiffened. Yes, I had. "Like me."

"And like Lillian."

My gaze snapped to his. He was looking at me again with that distant stare.

After our previous encounter with her was over, Luc never mentioned her. At least, not to me. I knew he spoke with Polly to assist with her search for her sister's truth, but those conversations were never shared with me. That I didn't mind. The subject of Lillian always made me uncomfortable.

"Did they...?" I began. "Did they have something to do with her death? With the Beast?"

"Not directly," Luc scoffed. "They'd never touch something like that unless it was to burn it from this Earth. But you can imagine their embarrassment when one of their prestigious recruits ended up dead with dark magic on their hands."

"Recruit?" I echoed. "Lillian was one of them?"

Luc gave a single nod. "When I first met her, Lillian was training under Matilda to enter The Gathered," he said, his voice almost a whisper. "It's a difficult position to obtain—they only accept truly exceptional talents. It's considered an honour amongst some families... To give a daughter to The Gathered."

"So, then why'd they turn on her?"

Luc's eyes seemed to darken, like the sea as a storm approaches. "Because of me."

"What?"

"Like I said, The Gathered is an unforgiving order—they demand absolute devotion. And that means they do not allow for any romantic attachments."

Ah. Now I knew why no one had shared this story with me. This wasn't just a story about Lillian...

This was their love story.

"Despite this, we were instantly drawn to each other," Luc continued. He turned to look out the narrow window. "We were young and dumb."

The ache in my chest returned. Was I... jealous? Jealous of the dead ex-girlfriend of a man I wasn't even with anymore? This was stupid—I felt stupid. I looked away, too, turning my gaze to the floor.

"It was easy to keep it a secret at first," he continued, his voice low. "But as she moved through her mentorship and they demanded more and more of her... She was torn. She wanted power. She wanted me. But she couldn't have both...

"The longer we were together, the harder it got. We loved each other, but I was beginning to see the writing on the wall. We couldn't hide forever. And so Lillian promised she'd leave the order to be with me. But not right away—she said she had to stay for a little bit, just a little longer... She needed something from them.

"I didn't understand, but I trusted her. So I agreed to wait. Until..."

He stopped then.

"Until what?" I prodded.

"Until I found her stash."

This part I remembered, too. Luc had broken it off with Lillian because she was messing with something she shouldn't be... That something became the Beast.

"Because of the nature of their work," he said. "The Gathered keep an extensive inventory of the dark artifacts they 'recover' in the line of duty. And Lillian had been stealing from it. I stumbled across her little collection of items in her apartment. Books on summoning, on curses, on flesh magic—truly evil things. Things far above her position in the order. Things she wasn't meant to have.

"And it wasn't just the items," he said, his voice shaking now. "There was evidence she was practising it. I didn't figure out what exactly she was trying to do. I didn't want to. She came home and I confronted her. She refused to give me a direct answer and so..." He trailed off again, his eyes truly empty now. When he spoke again, his words were flat, emotionless. "I ended it."

He went quiet and I stole a glance at him. He was still staring out the window, like he could find answers there, carved into the frame.It was obvious he still carried so much of the hurt from that relationship. I wanted to comfort him... but it wasn't my place to—not anymore. I didn't know what to say, so I said nothing and waited.

After several moments, he closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. He began again. "I'm not sure exactly how or when," he said, "but our affair was discovered. And though it was already over between us, she had still broken the rules. And so they basically threw her out onto the street. She went to live with Polly and then, well, things got worse from there..."

That part of the story I knew well enough. The Beast turned on her, killing her before taking aim at the rest of Luc's romantic past... and future. Me.

Though I guessed I was 'past' now too...

The spirit began to move again inside me, like it was waking up. Did they know where we were? What was coming for them—for us? That these people—The Gathered—were going to take us and rip us apart?

Something occurred to me then. "Why didn't Lillian tell them?"

"Huh?" Luc asked.

"If she knew something was wrong, if she knew something was hunting her... Why didn't she come to The Gathered for help? If their whole schtick is 'defeating evil'—wouldn't they help her, even if she did get kicked out?"

He shrugged. "Maybe because she knew they'd treat her like they treated you."

Heat began to prickle at the base of my neck. "So, what? She just let that thing—the Beast—go? Let it roam this world and hunt all those women, hunt me—" I shouted, jumping up to my feet. Lillian's mistakes had derailed my life.

The presence began to twist up inside me. Maybe it agreed with me.

"I can't speak for her reasoning, but it's not always easy to stare down death like that," Luc said, turning back to me. The man I loved was back, his green eyes shining in the weak light streaming in from the window. "Could you, if you knew that thing inside you was evil? And the only way to destroy it was to die?"

The spirit stopped its twisting, freezing in place. I did, too.

Could I?

Could I sacrifice myself?

If it was the right thing to do...?

Someone pounded on the metal door.

🔮

If it was to save someone's life, could you sacrifice yourself?

Big love & shout out to one my patrons @MilyCollins for all her support. ❤️