Page 209 of Bedeviled

Flames rush out around us, alighting on his magic. I hear more screams, but these sound surprised more than they do agonized. And when the fire passes over me, I feel nothing but a touch of warmth.

Memnon’s form stiffens when he finally realizes what I intend.

“No,” he pleads—or perhaps it’s the magic in him that is pleading with me.

Yes. I will not allow this curse to consume my soul mate whole until there is nothing left.

I gaze back at him, my voice unwavering.

“What was once taken, I demand returned⁠—”

“Selene.” Now I’m sure it’s the monster not the man speaking. Wanting me to let it live and thrive. But even though it knows I’m trying to destroy it, it doesn’t move a hand against me.

Every bit of me loves you, he told me long ago. Even the wretched parts.

I step forward and place a hand over Memnon’s heart, and I hold his glowing gaze in the darkness. “Let the scales be balanced once more. I revoke this magic evermore.”

My power, along with the last of the fire around us rush into Memnon then. The sorcerer chokes, his glowing eyes on me. A stark look of betrayal shines there. He chokes again, tilts back his head, and roars.

His magic seems to detonate. It explodes out of him, the sheer force of it knocking me to the ground.

It rushes past us, throwing supernaturals to the floor.

When I glance back up, Memnon’s power has cleared, as has the darkness. My soul mate’s eyes are no longer glowing. They’re no longer seeing the world at all, and our connection has gone deathly silent.

“Memnon!” My voice hits an unnatural pitch.

Goddess, what have I done?

His body falls to its knees, then slumps forward. I catch him, my legs folding beneath me under his weight.

My hand is back on his unnaturally still chest. Panic unlike anything I’ve ever known seizes me.

“You will not die on me,” I command, my voice breaking. Had I known this spell could kill him, I would’ve never uttered a word of it.

My magic rushes into Memnon then, through his nostrils and mouth. It buries itself in his skin, I sense it dripping down his throat and coiling around his still heart. All of me rests in this moment.

My power forces his heart to contract once, then twice.

Nothing.

No, he cannot be truly dead.

I won’t believe it. I will defy the Goddess Herself if need be, if only to bring him back.

My hand flexes and my resolve hardens. I’m going to bring him back.

Memnon has done this dozens of times to break forced bonds. He also made it clear that sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

This time it will work. It must.

I focus on the earth once more. The Otherworld’s magic fills the soil to bursting. I draw on that fullness now. I drag it up, up from the soil. Dimly, I’m aware of the roots of the trees sharing what is pulled from the ground, from the towering cedars that loom all around us. I pull from their life source.

I force all my gathered power into a single word. “Revive,” I incant.

Magic rushes over of me and envelops Memnon’s lifeless form. His body jerks, and his back arches before relaxing once more.

I shove another burst of magic into his body. “Lisnuswatavak!” I incant louder, a tear dripping from my eye.