I waited for the vines to snake around me, to once again bind me to that wooden throne. If she was going to get Lillian out, she was going to have to exorcise me again.

I glared at her, unable to do much else.

"Oh, dear, don't look so worried," Matilda said, with a crackling laugh. "We're not going to do another exorcism. Instead, we thought we might offer a deal."

"A deal?" Lillian echoed. I could feel her mistrust, same as my own. "What kind of deal?"

Matilda smiled. "If you willingly leave this girl and go merge with the Malix," Matilda nodded her head towards the knotted mass of roots in the corner, "then I will spare Luc's life and let him and Rachel go."

My heart sputtered to life. Spare Luc and let us go?

That's all we wanted!

Only... what would that mean for Lillian?

I turned inward, trying to feel out what she might be thinking. If she had heard my thoughts, she gave no sign of it.

What would happen to her if she rejoined with the Malix?

If she was still melded to it when it was destroyed?

Did that mean her soul was to be destroyed as well?

I couldn't let her do that.

Death was one thing, but destroying her soul?

No.

I opened my mouth to refuse Matilda's offer—

"I'll do it."

What? No!

"But I want your word," Lillian continued, narrowing my eyes.

I tried to speak, but Lillian wouldn't let me. She had full control of my body now.

Matilda smiled. "Of course," she said with a sombre nod. "You have my word and the word of the order that we will not harm them, now or ever." She held out her hand to Lillian.

No! Lillian! Wait! I screamed at her inside my head.

She ignored me. She had control of my body now. I studied Matilda's face—her paper-fine wrinkles, her moon-like eyes, her wispy white hair wound into a braid that trailed over her shoulders—searching for any sign of falseness. Matilda didn't flinch, just stared back with blank patience.

"Deal," Lillian said. She took Matilda's hand and clasped it tight.

Something surged between them, something that felt binding and final.

Lillian, no, you can't do this! I yelled inside my mind.

I have to, she responded, finally. She's right. Truth is, I've felt it there, that growing darkness. I tried to ignore it, hoping that maybe it'd go away once the Malix was dead... But...

My stomach sank. But what if this destroys you?

I'm willing to take that chance, she replied, if it means this thing is done for good. If it means that I can finally right my wrongs.

No! I replied. I won't let you!

Her soft laugh echoed through my head. And how will you stop me? Your arm is an open door, remember?

Matilda smiled, waiting, her gaze gently pressing into my face. I wondered if she could hear our conversation.

"If you want me to do this," Lillian said. "Then get your henchmen to let me—let Rachel go."

Matilda's gaze sharpened for a half-second before softening again. She gave a single nod to the two blue-cloaks that had hold of me. Instantly, they dropped me. I stumbled and but caught myself. I turned to shoot a parting glare, but they were already gone. No, not gone—just out of sight. I had a feeling that my guards—and many others—would appear again if they were called.

Regardless of where they lurked, only Matilda and I stood in the middle of the overgrown room. The Malix was still grumbling in the corner, beneath the heavy knot of roots.

Luc was still bound, but awake now... and watching us.

I made eye contact with him, holding his gaze. His expression was tense—his brow furrowed, his mouth pressed into a tight line. It was like he was trying to communicate something with me through looks alone, trying to force his thoughts to cross the air between us. Unfortunately, despite my constant entanglements with this world, I couldn't hear him.

He doesn't want me to do this, Lillian said. She could read him, of course. But it's too late.

"It is, unfortunately," Matilda replied to Lillian's silent thought. "So, shall we?"

No! I wanted to stop Lillian from leaving but I wasn't sure how. I tried to tense my whole body like I might be able to hold her in like a breath, but it was like trying to keep smoke inside a cage. My eyes went foggy and I blinked them, thinking something was in my eyes... Then the fog moved back from me. I realized I was alone in my head once again.

"No!" I tried to grab at the smokey shape—at Lillian—and pull her back to me, but she slipped through my finger just as actual smoke would.

Just out of my reach, the mist pressed together and melded into a human form. Once again, Lillian was the bloated rotting corpse from my dreams, her bare stomach ruined with carvings. She floated over the water, her hair twisting in a wind that did not stir the room's dense, stagnant air.

Even with her ruined face, I could tell she was scared. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. I focused on her blue, cracked lips, catching only a few of the words she mouthed.

Tell Polly I'm sorry.

She looked away then, turning her ghostly figure to Matilda. She levelled a glare at her and mouthed a few more words that made the old woman scowl. I could only imagine what they were, but I was sure Matilda deserved them.

Finally, Lillian turned to face the Malix in its cage. Her form changed then, shifting from her rotting corpse to what she looked like when she was alive. A beauty with honey-rose curls and piercing blue eyes, though most of the colour had been sapped away. She paused then like she was screwing up the courage to head into the mouth of the Malix.

I rushed forward. If I couldn't stop her, I could at least stay with her so she wouldn't have to make the walk alone. But Matilda swept out her hand and froze me in place.

"Careful, girl," Matilda snapped. "That thing would still love a taste of you."

Matilda's grip held me so tightly that I could barely swallow, so all I could do was watch as Lillian took her first steps. The Malix's vibrating growl echoed through the room, so deep that it almost felt like a purr. It was happy to see her again.

Much too soon, Lillian reached the edge of the knotted roots, standing in front of a gap between the tangles. From the darkness, several arms emerged and opened wide in greeting, but she stayed just out of their reach.

She lifted her head to look up at Luc. He stared back at her with an unreadable expression. Something passed between them, one last conversation. So much had happened since they had last seen each other. I wondered what could even be said in these last few minutes...

A small prickle of jealousy flared at the back of my mind, and I had to stop and remind myself that he wasn't mine anymore. Maybe he never was. Even though she was long dead before I even met him, she had been the other person throughout the entirety of our relationship. She had been the one stuck in the back of his mind. His baggage was all hers. His paranoia that tainted our relationship was from trying to stop what started with her.

Finally, Lillian tore her gaze away. She squared her shoulders and stepped forward, into the roots. The arms wrapped around her like they were greeting an old friend with a hug and pulled her in. The Malix growled its greeting.

Matilda released me. I stumbled again, sloshing around in the water.

The room had gone completely quiet. No more rumbling purrs shook the room. I chewed on my lip, waiting...

A sharp squeal shattered the silence, echoing around the room. It sounded half like a screaming wildcat and half like the tearing metal of a car wreck. I wondered what horror it would emerge as this time, now that the Malix was finally whole.

"It's mutating again," Matilda called to seemingly no one. I had been right. There were others here, keeping out of sight.

The keening scream continued, sharpening to the point that I had to cover my ears with my hands. It sounded very much like the familiar cry of the Beast. Soon enough my hands weren't enough to keep the cry out. I dropped to my knees, splashing into the water. I buried my head in my arms and tucked my head into my chest, but even so, it drilled into my ears, rattling in my skull.

At some point, I started screaming, too.

Then, just like that, the shrieking stopped. The room stilled. I came up for air, bracing myself in case the screaming started again.

Matilda hadn't moved. She was standing statue-still, her arms tucked beneath her cloak. She continued to watch the Malix's den, waiting for something to happen.

I blinked. No, something was already happening. It was hard to see at this distance, but if I squinted, I could see fine golden strands—the same honey-blonde of Lillian's hair—slithering out between the roots. They were strung between branches, wound around the roots, snaking over the walls... They clung to everything like a shimmering spider web.

Kill me.

A familiar voice whispered through the room. It was too close like she was still in my head.

Lillian.

Do it. Kill me. Her voice warbled, distorted. Kill me now.

As I watched, more and more strands emerged. They had begun to crawl up on Luc, now. He was struggling against them.

Kill me before I hurt him! she roared, her voice taking on that animal sound.

I leapt up and rounded on Matilda. "It's going to kill him!" I shouted. "Get him out of there!"

She just stared at me, a single eyebrow raising. She scoffed with mild disgust. "And why would I do that?"

My mouth dropped open. "Because you promised you'd save him."

"I promised the order wouldn't harm him," she said, her voice flat and even. "And this is not our doing." She couldn't stop the smile teasing around her lips.

A cold shiver of horror took hold of me. Whatever deal she had made with Lillian, she had made sure to choose her words carefully. She had promised not to hurt us, but she had no intention of helping us.

As her pearl-like eyes took in my shock, her smile widened.

She was happy to let the Malix do what it liked with Luc before she destroyed it.

I ground my teeth together and balled my hands into fists. The cold chill that was snaking through my insides was beaten back by the raising flame of rage.

Well, if she won't do something, I will.

I turned away from her ugly face, intent to stalk forward and face the Beast. I had done this before. I could do it again.

But I didn't get very far before I hit some kind of invisible barrier. I turned back, and Matilda was still smiling, though now she had raised her arms. She had cast some kind of barrier to keep me back.

I spun on my heel and advanced towards her, instead. Her smirk fell like she hadn't expected this reaction.

She also didn't expect my fist slamming into her face.

Some psychic.

As she toppled backwards, I swung around and ran, hoping to reach Luc before Matilda could get back up and cast the barrier again. Water sprayed around me as I sloshed through the water. It made my legs heavy and slow like I was running in a dream.

I pushed on. I had to.

"Get her!" I heard Matilda cry.

A new roar of splashing erupted behind me. I couldn't spare the time to look behind me, but I could guess that a bunch of blue-cloaks were chasing after me. I struggled on, almost falling a few times, but I kept my mind on moving forward, no matter what.

By the time I reached the foot of the knotted roots, the golden strands had almost entirely wound around Luc's body. He was managing to struggle, but barely. The strands tightened with every passing second.

I couldn't waste another moment. I grabbed onto the roots and began to climb. There were plenty of footholds in the knotted mess and I quickly made my way out of the reach of the pursuing blue-cloaks.

But I didn't hear anyone behind me, anymore... I chanced a small glance behind me.

I had been right. A handful of blue cloaks had appeared and they were standing in a line several feet back from the foot of the roots.

Were they too scared to get any closer?

Matilda was several feet beyond, right where I left her. Her fancy cloak and white dress were soaked through and she was giving me a deadly glare.

I shot her a glare of my own and returned to climbing. As I reached Luc, he was so bound by the golden strands that he was gasping for air, barely able to breathe. All I could see was one of his green eyes, staring out at me in horror.

I wished I had a knife to cut through the gold. Instead, I began to tear at it, as best I could. The strands were thin and fine, slicing into my hands like wire as I tried to dig through them. Despite the stinging and the blood, I kept going.

Something took hold of my ankle and gave a sharp tug. I almost slid right off the side of the mass, but I grabbed hold of one of the roots just in time to keep myself from falling. I looked back, expecting one of the blue-cloaks to have finally screwed up the courage to come after me. But there was no one behind me. They were where I had left them, still in their line.

I leaned over, trying to get a better look at what had me. Had they magicked the roots to start moving again?

But it wasn't the gnarled green of roots around my ankles. It was the golden hair, wound around my ankle and now snaking its way up my leg. I tried my best to tear them off, but with every strand torn, several more took their place. It was like being stuck in a spider's web; there was no use in struggling because you'd only get more stuck.

"I'm trying to help him!" I screamed at it as I tried to fight. The last time I saw it, hadn't I watched as it tried to protect him? Why was it trying to hurt him, now?

Is this the mutation? Had whatever Lillian brought with her made it angry?

Made it hate him again?

She didn't hate him, though. That was the whole fucking problem.

Then why?

Somewhere, inside that monster, was Lillian. I had to try to reach her. I heard her voice, before. Maybe she could hear me.

"Lillian!" I cried as the golden strands bound my wrists. "Lillian, listen to me! You need to let us go! You're hurting us!"

The golden strands were tangled in my hair now, wrapping around my face, cutting into my lips. I could no longer scream.

Instead, I shouted at her in my mind, like I had all those other times when we had shared this body.

Lillian! You have to stop this! If you don't, we're going to die!

Miraculously, the golden strands stopped and then, after a long moment, began to loosen.

She had heard me! Somewhere inside that monster, she was still there.

It felt like the golden strands were retreating. Both of Luc's eyes were visible now. He was staring at me, his green eyes wide with fear. I tried to give him a heartening look. If I got through to Lillian, then maybe...

I called out to her again. Matilda lied to you! She lied! She broke her promise! She never intended to help us. She's going to let us die!

A grumble echoed through the cavernous hall.

They're going to kill him! I thought. It was insane, but if we could harness the power of the Malix, then—

I was yanked forward. Though most of the golden strands had retreated, there was still a lock wrapped around my ankle. I gripped onto the roots.

"Wait—" I cried out.

But it was too late. The golden strands gave another great yank and I was pulled off the mass, landing with a big splash. The shallow water did little to break my fall and my head hit the stone floor, dazing me.

I surfaced, gasping for air. I looked around and was met with Matilda's forceful gaze.

She mouthed her words.

I warned you.

The last thing I saw was Matilda's smirk as I was pulled beneath the roots.