Page 102 of His Eternal Claim

A woman in a white gown who resembles Crystella steps forward from the crowd. Her dress is soaked crimson now. Her mouth opens.

“You should have died with us.”

I scream, the sound tearing from my throat as I stagger backward.

“Come,” she croons.

The window is open now. I don’t remember it opening. The curtains billow violently inward despite the still night outside.

A freezing wind lashes my face. And somehow, somehow, I am standing beside the window. I don’t remember crossing the room. My hands grip the frame, and my bare feet balance on the ledge. The drop below stretches endlessly into darkness. There’s only sea.

“Jump.”

“Come home.”

“You don’t belong here.”

“He cannot save you.”

Tears stream down my face. “Zagreus…” I choke.

Crystella appears beneath the window, her head hanging upside down. Her neck is bent completely backward, and her eyes are gone.

“Jump, Stina.”

I squeeze my eyes shut. “Go away.”

“Jump.”

“GO AWAY!”

BANG. BANG. BANG.

The door rattles, and the ghosts freeze.

BANG.

“Selene!”

Another thunderous crash shakes the room as the door splinters. And light floods the room. And reality crashes back into place; my foot slips on the ledge, a scream rips from my throat, but strong arms catch me just as I fall. The last thing I see is Zagreus’s pale face before darkness swallows everything.

Chapter 35

Crimson

THE MAESTRO | Past

Idon’t even make it to the master wing before the first scream tears through the corridor.

Selene.

My blood runs cold.

I round the corner to my study, my hand already tearing the Beretta from my waistband, expecting a breach, an assassin, a physical threat I can put a bullet through. Instead, I find the doors thrown shut and the brass lock jammed tightly from the inside.

“Selene!” I roar, throwing my shoulder against the wood.

The framework groans, but the deadbolts hold. Behind the thick panels, her shrieks turn frantic, followed by a violent thrashing that sounds like she’s fighting a goddamn ghost.