Page 49 of Crimson Soul
NINETEEN
Lilith
The bed dipped beside me, stirring me from a deep sleep. I’d been getting used to sleeping for eight-plus hours a night, but it seemed like the more I slept, the more tired I was.
At least I managed to send a message to my guys through Emma. I just hoped they were doing okay. I never wanted to cause them pain and anguish.
Exhaustion rattled my bones as I stretched out, letting out a yawn. “I’m not hungry. You don’t have to do visits to cure my boredom.”
“That’s not why I’m here,” a feminine voice told me, sounding equivalent to nails on a chalkboard.
My eyes popped open, and I threw the covers off before bolting off the bed and backing away until my back hit the far wall. There was a young woman with short black hair that flowed away from her angular face. She wore a long, dark green Victorian dress with a corset that morphed to her slender frame.
"You're Lilith." Her thin black lips pulled into a smirk, showing off her pearl-white teeth. "It's nice to finally meet the child I helped reincarnate."
This is the witch who helped with the ritual?
Adrenaline spread through my chest, making my pulse jump higher. "You're the blood witch."
She threw her head back as she cackled. "Oh, Gabriel's been talking about me I see."
"Not really, no. He just answered my questions. Some of them."
“Don’t you want to know my name?” She grinned widely.
“Not particularly.”
She huffed, stood up, and drifted toward me like a swan gliding on the surface of water. "Well, do you have any questions? I'm more than happy to ease your curiosity. After all, you've been here for an entire month."
"A month?" I swallowed the lump in my throat. "It felt like it'd been longer."
She tapped her long, black fingernails on her pale cheek. "Only a little over a month, Crimson Demon."
I recoiled at the title. Calculating brown eyes scrutinized me from head to toe, and my survival instinct screamed at me to get the fuck away from her, but my back was already against the fucking wall.
“So we’re addressing each other by our titles now?”
She shrugged. “You’re the one who didn’t want to learn my name. Not your best choice.”
“Fine. What’s your name?”
“Delacroix.”
“Well, Delacroix…” Glancing down at the bracelet, I growled lowly. "What exactly is this?"
"Oh, please, call me Mystia." She giggled as she took another step closer. She was at least a foot taller than me, and as a blood witch, I knew she had powers I didn't know about, so I couldn't fight her. Not yet. “Do you mean the bracelet?”
"Obviously." I bit my cheek, tasting the metallic blood pool in my mouth.
“It's draining your power." She reached out, tapping those nails on the metal bracelet with a clinking sound. "Two full moons' worth of it on your wrist, and The Crimson Demon's power will be all mine."
The color drained from my face as my gaze whipped back to her. "My power isn't yours to take, witch."
"But I helped create what you are now. I'm kind of like...what do you humans call it? A Godmother." She moved her hand up to lightly touch my cheek.
My skin was clammy as sweat broke out on my body despite the coolness of the room. "And what happens to me when you take my power?"
"Your power resides in your essence." She shook her head with a smile as if she were explaining two plus two to a child. "Essentially, the bracelet will drain you of your essence, of your lifeblood. You'll die before the next full moon, and when that happens, I'll take the bracelet and put it on, and all your power will belong to me."
