Page 195 of Infernal Bonds

The same mushrooms that led me here clustered around the edges of the opening, tucked beneath gnarled roots and growing across the heavy moss draped over them. Their eerie glow highlighted the warped space, making it look like a magical portal or doorway.

The fog thickened around me, and darkness swallowed the faint glow of the mushrooms lining the trail, leaving only the cluster encircling the entrance and myself visible.

A faint light pierced the fog through the entrance, illuminating the tangled roots, twisting vines, and rotting leaves I’d grown accustomed to seeing in Feranzis on the other side.

The light seemed to beckon me forward.

As darkness pressed against me and the fog devoured the forest all around me, I knew if I didn’t answer the light’s call, the fog would swallow me too.

As soon as I reached the other side, I almost wanted to climb back through and take my chances with the fog.

In the middle of the path, my aunt Patricia sat reading the Bible. She lifted her head, recognition flashing across her features before her expression settled into a glare. “I always knew you were damned.”

I stared at her, not feeding the dream’s script.

“You’re no different from your mom and grandmother.” She closed the book. “Oh. Wait. You’re very different, aren’t you? You got too close and now you’re one of them.” Her mouth twisted into a cruel sneer. “You stupid girl. Had you only gotten the treatment you needed, you wouldn’t have ended up here.”

I didn’t have to listen to this. Grandma wasn’t here anymore for her to hold over my head.

“And what? Let you lock me in a psych ward?”

“Since you refused prayer, it was only natural. You were a danger not only to yourself but also to those around you. Your delusions have caused more harm than good.”

I hated giving in to the delusions this place conjured, but I wanted to know. “What are you talking about?”

“Would Bonnie be rotting in the ground if you hadn’t given in to your curiosity? Had you left the Devil’s book alone, those demons would have left her alone.”

The words struck me harder than any physical blow ever could.

Grandma Bonnie died the night I opened the book Quinfina gave me. That night, I summoned the guys to the human plane, and Grandma sensed something change. She’d wanted to come to me, but couldn’t. They couldn’t sedate her, and she died of heart failure.

“You know it’s your fault. I can see it on your face.”

I flinched.

“I can see it on your face,” she repeated, a touch of venom in her tone. “Your sins damned her to Hell. Now here you are, where you belong. Living with the damned.”

Real or not, the words were true.

Grandma tried to reassure me in Cholian when I met her spirit, but nothing would ever lift the guilt weighing heavily on my heart. She hadn’t deserved to die

If I hadn’t used the book, things wouldn’t have unfolded the way they did. That was an undisputed fact.

Patricia looked over her shoulder before returning her gaze to me. “It looks like there’s more for you.” She opened the Bible again. “I would say I’d pray for you, but we both know I never did.”

When I sidestepped around her to continue along the path, she didn’t acknowledge me, keeping her eyes locked on the open Bible in her lap.

After walking several more minutes, I saw Quinfina standing on the mushroom-lined path, vines slithering and coiling around her feet like living snakes. They disappeared and reappeared from the fog that still moved around the path as though waiting to consume this place too.

Her curls were limp and dirty. Soot covered her vibrant clothing. Patches of ash smeared her dark skin, painting her like a ghost.

“Are you okay?”

“Of course not.”

I rushed forward to check on her, stopping short when her peridot eyes flashed and I caught a glimpse of fangs. I didn’t want my first glimpse of Quinfina’s alternate form to happen while I was trapped in dream-Feranzis.

“Do you believe you can help me?” Her voice grew sharp and accusatory. “You are the reason for this. You are the reason Elyrdin will fall.”