Crowned In Shadows by Amber Ella Monroe

Chapter 4

Sadie

Ididn’t take more than a few seconds to traverse the living room until I reached the opposite side of the apartment. Then, I tapped lightly on the bedroom door before entering. Although I had every right to enter, I didn’t want to make my sister Sydney feel uncomfortable. She was facing just as much peril as any of us, considering that a menacing individual she’d been forced to raise was still at large.

As expected, when I pushed open the bedroom door, Sydney was lying in bed, propped up against the headboard. She looked exhausted, so I hastened over to her bedside and poured her a glass of water. She gulped it down gratefully.

Altair, Dominik and Morpheus had followed me into the room. I understood they wanted to be there to protect me in the case that anything happened, but at this point, I wasn’t sure my sister could lash out in a way that would affect me.

“Sadie,” she whispered. “My magic. I had a dream that it was gone.” She looked down at her bare palms as if checking for herself.

I swallowed. I didn’t want to be the one to confirm to her that she was in fact drained of magic, so I said, “You’ll get better soon.”

She abruptly shook her head, her despair tangible. “I don’t know if I will. I used my last iota of energy to escape the Damned, and it nearly killed me.”

“After you...summoned Asmodeus...and he escaped the Land of the Damned, did he not help you get out too?” My gaze held hers, demanding an answer.

She cringed in humiliation and furiously threw off the covers. “You should not make such baseless claims.”

“I want to understand what happened.” My voice was intense, begging for understanding. “Please...stay with me. I want to help you, if you let me.”

Sydney sighed. “What about them?” She glanced up at Altair, Dominik, and Morpheus.

“We do whatever Sadie asks unless it will harm her,” Altair stated.

Sydney blushed. “Well, that doesn’t mean I’m going to trust any of you, because I don’t.”

“We understand,” Morpheus replied, flatly. “We’re just trying to learn your motives.”

“As I am trying to understand yours with my sister!” she lashed out.

“What do you mean, Sydney? I trust them completely,” I said.

“I mean, I heard what was going on on the other side of the apartment. This thing you have with these...fugitives...is unconventional. How you allow them to...” She searched for words in disgust. “...run a train on you is unbecoming of you, sister.”

My chest filled with disappointment, but what I didn’t feel was shame over how she classified me and my relationship with my men. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. You’ve been gone a long time. I’d be more than happy to bring you up to speed, but what you won’t do is sit here and degrade me.”

“I should go.” She swung her legs over the bed.

“But you’re not well. We have enemies. If the coven is mad about my relationship with shadow world kings then you can bet they’re going to be angry about your successful ploy to raise an ancient evil.”

“But you don’t know that yet. You don’t know why I raised him,” she countered.

“Because you won’t tell me. I am your sister. Your only sister. Your only living family member, except for Finn who tried to kill me to get to you.”

“Finn is not our family and he’ll never be,” Sydney stated.

I tensed up, my heart pounding in my chest. I knew what she was going to say, and I didn’t know if I was ready to hear it.

“Listen,” I exhaled. “Finn didn’t raise Asmodeus. You did. I need to understand why you raised Asmodeus, Sydney. You can’t just brush it aside like it was nothing.”

“I know. And I want to tell you. I really do.” Sydney looked around the room, her eyes darting from one man to the other. “I don’t want to talk about this in front of them,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

I nodded, understanding her discomfort. “Okay. I’ll send them out. But you have to promise me you’ll tell me everything once they’re gone.”

Sydney nodded, looking relieved. “I promise.”

I looked over my shoulder and saw that Altair, Dominik, and Morpheus were already grumbling about Sydney’s request, but if this was the only way to get her to talk, I had to take the chance. “Guys, can you give us a minute?”

Altair, Dominik, and Morpheus looked up at me, their faces unreadable. “Of course,” Altair said, backing away. “We’ll be in the kitchen cleaning up if you need us.”

I closed the door behind them and turned to face Sydney, who was already standing up. “Okay, spill it. Why did you raise that evil?”

Sydney hesitated, wringing her hands. “It’s complicated, Sadie. I did it for an important reason.”

“I need to know that reason,” I said firmly. “I need to understand what you were thinking.”

Sydney looked down at her feet, her eyes filling with tears. “It was Dad’s mission, Sadie. The mission he died trying to accomplish.”

I felt a lump form in my throat, the pain of our father’s death still raw and fresh. My voice shook as I stammered, “I know he died in that fire at the church, but he never told me why he went there. I don’t understand why he would want to raise Asmodeus. What was his mission?”

“I can’t tell you yet,” Sydney said, shaking her head. “Not until I know I can trust you completely.”

I felt a surge of anger rise up in me, but I swallowed it down, trying to keep my emotions in check. “How can I trust you, Sydney? You raised a very evil ancient spirit, for God’s sake. You put us all in danger.”

Sydney’s face hardened, her eyes blazing with anger. “I did what I had to do, Sadie. I accomplished what Dad couldn’t. And I’m proud of it.”

I stared at her in shock, unable to believe what I was hearing. “Proud? You’re proud of putting our lives in danger? Dad would’ve had mechanisms in place to control the situation afterward, but you just allowed Asmodeus to get away and roam free.”

Sydney’s eyes narrowed, her voice growing cold. “I didn’t put your life in danger, Sadie. I put mine on the line to do what I believed was right. And I don’t regret it.”

“What made you come here, looking for my approval?” I demanded.

“Because I thought you’d side with me as my sister. As for the danger, if you stay out of his way, nothing will happen to you.”

I shook my head, unable to believe what I was hearing. “I can’t believe this. I can’t even begin to understand where you’re coming from, Sydney. How could you do something like this?”

Sydney’s face softened, her eyes spilled fresh tears. “I know it’s hard to understand, Sadie. But you have to trust me. I did it for a reason. And I’ll tell you everything once I know you won’t judge me for it. I just need time. Everything happened so quickly.”

I took a step back, feeling overwhelmed and confused. “I don’t know if I can do that, Sydney. This is too much for me to handle.”

Sydney’s face fell, her shoulders slumping. “I understand. I just...I thought you were different, Sadie. I thought you’d understand, but I see now that those demon fugitives have corrupted you. I know exactly who they are now. I know they were put away for treason long ago.”

I felt tears brimming in my own eyes. “You don’t know much of anything, sister. You never even bothered to ask what I’ve been through.”

My mind spun with questions and doubts. Sydney’s words hung between us, the tension thick in the air. I wanted to believe her and trust her, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

“Did you steal the moon orb, Sydney?” I asked.

“Steal?” She burst out in outrage. “How do I steal something that I have a right to?”

“Did you take it?” I demanded.

She held up a hand as if to tell me to stop. “I’m done. I can see that you’d rather have sex with them than trust me,” Sydney bit out while my back was turned.

Her words hurt me, but she continued, “It’s wrong. Father wouldn’t approve of this.”

I spun around, folding my arms across my chest. “But he approved of selling me off to the Wulfrics to see some bullshit Alpha Omega prophesy come true. Well, I know this. He was wrong because that’s not me. That’ll never be me.”

She thrust a finger at me. “I know that he would have wanted us to be safe. What I’m doing—the decision I made—will ensure we’re safe in the future.”

I frowned. “But I won’t live with a decision I know is wrong. Asmodeus has to go back where he came from.”

Sydney’s eyes flared with anger. “Why? Because you want to keep your demons by your side?” Her words sliced through the air like sharp blades. She pointed at the closed door. “They will consume you, Sadie, until you’re nothing more than a hollow shell of your former self. You will become nothing.”

“I will become queen.”

Sydney’s eyes narrowed to razor thin slits. “You do plan on keeping them, don’t you?”

“They’ve protected me,” I said.

“Then I can’t stay here. I thought by coming to you that we could do this together, but obviously, you’re not with me.”

Sydney rushed to the door before I could intervene.

“Wait!”

I screamed out her name as I lunged forward and grabbed for her shoulder, desperate to keep her from leaving. The sheets clung to her, creating a trail of fabric like an angry serpent behind her. Sydney spun around and I saw fear in her eyes.

“Stay away!” She screamed back at me, just before the door slammed shut, cutting off whatever I was going to say.

I was at a crossroads. On one hand, I wanted to make amends with Sydney, but I also had to consider my growing relationship with Altair, Dominik, and Morpheus. I couldn’t just abandon them, no matter what happened with Sydney. One wrong move and it could be the end of our relationships.

My life had suddenly become incredibly complicated and I was overwhelmed. I needed an answer that wouldn’t leave anyone behind, but I just couldn’t find it.