enjoyebooks CHAPTER 57
CHAPTER 57
POV: Sebastian
The moment William’s magic erupts toward me, the air itself seems to rupture. A violent wave of black energy tears across the chamber. I throw myself sideways, blade raised, and the force slams into the stone pillar behind me, splitting it in half.
“William!” I shout, steadying my stance. “Stop—listen to me!”
He doesn’t.
The boy’s eyes are glowing, swallowed by shadows that pulse with fury. His hands tremble as another bolt of dark magic forms between his palms, sharp as lightning and twice as deadly.
He throws it.
I raise my sword, channeling all my strength into deflecting it. The impact jolts through my arms, vibrating the blade, sending me skidding back over the rough ground. Sparks scatter around my feet.
“Please!” I try again, breathless. “You don’t have to do this!”
He charges forward, small feet pounding against the cold stone floor, yet every strike he releases carries enough force to kill a grown man. The ground cracks beneath each burst of power.
I dodge another blow, barely. The magic grazes my shoulder, burning through my cloak. Pain lances down my arm.
Still—I refuse to strike back.
He’s a child. A broken, furious, grieving child.
“William, listen to me—your mother wouldn’t want this!” I plead, raising my sword only to shield myself from another blast.
He screams. “DON’T SAY HER NAME!”
The next wave of energy hits my blade so hard that I’m thrown to the ground. My back slams into the wall, knocking the breath out of me. I gasp and roll aside just as another blast incinerates the spot where I lay.
His voice comes out cracked and trembling. “You don’t get to talk about her! You killed her!”
Another barrage of magic shoots toward me—wild, unfocused, but devastatingly strong. I sprint between pillars, torn between staying alive and staying close enough to keep him from losing control completely.
Every step I take, every dodge I make, feels like a plea.
“I didn’t want to hurt her!” I shout. “I was protecting—”
He cuts me off with a blast so large the entire chamber shudders.
Behind us, Henry watches with eerie calm, pride flickering across his features at every violent surge of William’s power.
Something inside me cracks at the sight.
“Henry!” I shout over the chaos. “You’re killing him by letting this happen!”
He smiles faintly. “He is finally becoming what he was meant to be.”
“No child is meant to be THIS!” I roar.
But William isn’t listening anymore. His face is wet with tears, his breathing jagged. Pain twists across his small features, yet the magic keeps building inside him, reaching for an outlet.
He lifts both hands—another enormous wave of dark energy forming around him.
I brace myself.
But suddenly—
A sharp cry rings through the chamber.
“STOP!”
It’s Rosemary.
She lunges out of the shadows like a streak of silver and fury, slamming into Henry before he even realizes she moved. Her sword is at his throat before he can breathe.
Henry hits the ground hard. She pins him with her full weight, blade pressing into the hollow of his neck.
William freezes—the magic flickering wildly around his hands.
Rosemary snarls, voice trembling with rage, “If you don’t stop, if you take one more step, I’ll kill him right here.”
The chamber falls into stillness.
The only sound is William’s breathing—sharp, uneven, cracking.
I feel sweat sliding down my temples as I slowly straighten, sword still raised defensively. “William,” I say gently, “listen to her. This doesn’t have to end like this.”
Rosemary presses the blade harder against Henry’s throat. “Make your choice, boy. Stop the magic. Now.”
Henry’s eyes widen—not with fear, but with something colder. “William,” he murmurs, “think carefully.”
William’s gaze snaps between us—between me standing battered and breathless, and Rosemary holding the man he calls Father hostage.
His lip trembles. His hands shake violently at his sides.
Then his expression changes.
Something hardens inside him. Something shatters.
He narrows his eyes.
His voice emerges low, trembling—but deadly.
“If you hurt him…”
The energy around his hands bursts brighter, swirling like a storm ready to break free.
“…I’ll kill him.”
His tiny finger points directly at me.
The force of the realization hits me harder than any blast of magic.
“William—wait—”
But he cuts me off, shouting so loudly his voice cracks:
“If you hurt my father, I’ll kill Sebastian! I’ll kill him!”
The chamber holds its breath.
Rosemary’s grip tightens around Henry’s throat.
William’s power crackles dangerously around him.
And I am trapped between two blades—one literal, one made of a child’s grief.
Tension coils so thick it feels like the entire labyrinth might collapse from it.
William steps forward, magic flaring upward in a violent arc of darkness.
His voice trembles, but the threat is unmistakable, undeniable, lethal:
“If she hurts him—I’ll kill Sebastian.”