Crowned In Shadows by Amber Ella Monroe

Chapter 5

Sadie

One step forward. Two steps back. The cycle was endless and aggravating. I wanted to scream until the world shattered.

My apartment was silent and still, my heartbeat the only sound after Sydney had stormed out. After an hour of brooding alone, Altair and Dominik entered the room and settled on either side of me on the couch. Altair lifted my legs onto his lap and began kneading my feet while Dominik draped an arm around my shoulder. Morpheus took a seat across from me, nervously tapping his fingers on the armrest.

“We want to know what you’re thinking,” he said, his voice breaking the silence. “You’ve been so quiet for so long.”

“I was thinking we should go to Apollyn,” I suggested in a hushed voice, glancing up briefly from under my eyelashes.

I already knew the answer before it was even said.

“No,” was their unified reply.

“We can’t go to our father,” Altair said firmly. “We can’t trust him with any of this.”

Dominik nodded in agreement. “The last time we saw him, he sent us to rot away on a poor and almost desolate realm,” he said, his voice tinged with caution.

“I side with my brothers on this one, Sadie,” Morpheus added, glancing at me through lowered lids.

I sighed. I had known this was going to be their reaction. “I know it’s a risk,” I said. “But I think we should at least think about it. We’re running out of options, and I think we should at least consider this one.”

Altair looked at me doubtfully. “It’s too risky,” he said. “We should explore other options first.”

I nodded reluctantly. “Fine,” I said. “But if we don’t find another solution, we should at least consider speaking to Apollyn.”

The others exchanged a look, but didn’t respond. I knew I hadn’t convinced them, but I was determined to keep Apollyn in mind as an option. For now, we had to find another way to deal with Asmodeus.

Their unwillingness to agree with my first idea left me feeling frustrated and helpless. We needed a solution, and fast. A fast solution. Not a slow one.

“Guys, just hear me out one more time.” I leaned forward. “We don’t have to physically go to Apollyn.”

“We’re not worried about us going,” Altair said. “We’re worried about you. We don’t want him touching you or looking at you. He is not yours to use. You belong to us. You’re our queen. Ours.”

I sighed. I felt defeated. “Okay, then what’s your suggestion?”

Dominik cleared his throat before speaking, his gaze steady and his words thoughtful. “We need to find a way to take down Asmodeus without any outside assistance. We can figure this out ourselves.”

I pondered his suggestion, feeling the weight of responsibility on my shoulders. I paused before offering up my own solution. “I think I might have an idea,” I said carefully.

Morpheus and the others looked at me, their expressions full of anticipation. I took a deep breath and leaned forward, my voice low and serious. “Everyone has a weakness, even someone as powerful as Asmodeus,” I said, my eyes still locked with theirs.

The room fell silent, and the air seemed to hum with anticipation. I felt their intensity at my words, and even Altair’s eyes widened slightly before he narrowed them in concentration and said in a low voice, “Explain…”

“In order to exploit someone’s weakness, you have to separate them from that which fuels them...” I said.

“Like taking candy from a baby...” Dominik offered.

“Or a bone from a dog,” Morpheus added.

“Or a spirit from a demon,” I concluded.

“That’s how father managed to put Asmodeus down in the first place,” Altair stated.

“I figured that much while I was with your father. He taught me some magic. He never told me the purpose—just kept teaching me stuff.”

“Unbinding a spirit from a demon takes very powerful magic,” Morpheus said.

I silently nodded, a sense of relief washing over me. My fingers twitched, eager to begin our mission. “It does,” I said, finally breaking the silence. “Luckily, I know of an artifact that houses this type of magic.”

Dominik’s mouth stretched into a tight line and he slowly nodded in agreement. His gaze flickered with determination and excitement. “Good. Let’s get it.”

“But there’s a problem.” I shifted my body off of the cozy arm of the couch, where both Dominik and Altair were situated. Dominik’s groan of discontent echoed in the room, and I smiled lightly.

“What problem? Do tell…” He urged, motioning for me to continue.

I took a few steps over to the bookshelf, stretching my arms up as high as they could go. The leather bound book I was searching for was just out of reach. I felt Altair’s strong arms wrap around my waist, supporting me as he lifted me off the ground and allowed me to grab the book with ease.

My lips curled up into a broad smile. “Thank you,” I said.

He gently turned me around, running his calloused palm over my cheek. “Just promise me you won’t try to conjure anything that could do you harm.”

I blushed, feeling the heat race up along my neck and face. His lips met mine in a tender kiss, just enough to make my heart flutter.

“The only magic I plan to cast is one that will get the job done,” I whispered as I pulled away from him and made my way to the table with the book.

After a few moments of flipping through the pages, finding nothing, I raced over to the shelf and grabbed another book. I frantically skimmed the notes and grimoires spread out before me, but the words all blurred together and nothing seemed to make sense. My hope began to dwindle as I realized that nothing in front of me was going to help me in my quest.

I took a deep breath and turned to my protectors. “I need another grimoire,” I said, standing, motioning to my men to join me in a circle. “Come with me.”

Altair, Dominik, and Morpheus exchanged a look before nodding in agreement. “We’ll go with you,” Altair said.

We huddled together in the magically-infused circle and I teleported them to my parents’ old cabin—the same cabin where Altair and I took refuge after Finn tried to kill us.

We touched down lightly on the wooden porch. The hottest temperatures summer had finally arrived in the air here. The sun peeked through a break in the clouds, its beams warming us and glinting off the cobwebs that adorned the railing. The soft, perfumed breeze was heavy with the scent of lilacs and intoxicating jasmine. In the distance, birds chirped and sang, their melodies accompanying the whispers of the wind.

“Hmmm,” Morpheus hummed, lifting his nose to the sky. “No city noises. I like this.”

Dominik waved his outstretched arms and turned in a circle. “No smell of pollution either. I like this better than your cramped apartment.”

I smiled. “I always loved it here too, but we won’t stay for long. I’m just going to need a few minutes alone to think.” I didn’t wait for them to respond before I darted inside the cabin and raced toward the bookshelves.

“We’ll be outside in case you need us,” Morpheus shouted from beyond the doorway.

“Yeah...” By then, I was already rummaging through my parents’ treasured texts.

I scanned every nook, cranny, passage, and line of text until I confirmed what I needed to know, and then I pondered whether what I planned to do would be wise or not.

I paced back and forth, trying to wrap my head around everything that had happened. But as I paced, my mind kept circling back to Asmodeus and his hidden weakness. I knew what I needed to do, but the artifact I needed to retrieve was dangerous and heavily guarded.

I took a deep breath and made a decision. I had to try. I had to get to the artifact. But I couldn’t do it alone. I needed my protectors, even if they didn’t approve of my plan. I had to convince them.

I walked out of the cabin and found my protectors waiting for me on the porch. “I have a plan,” I said. “But I need your help.”

Altair raised his eyebrows. “And what is this plan you speak of?”

“I need to get to an artifact. Our coven used it to fuel an unbinding spell before but it was lost a long time ago before the coven split up, but I know exactly where it is.”

Morhpeus crossed his arms and frowned. “This sounds like a dangerous mission.”

“Where is this artifact?” Dominik asked.

I bit my lip. “With an enemy coven. Boîte de nuit. The Nightbox coven.”

Altair stroked his chin, and looked at his brothers. “We have heard of this Nightbox coven. They are mutts. A mix of witch and dust demons.”

Morpheus nodded. “We defeated the dust devils a long time ago for father. Nothing remains of that race. Only this coven of mutts you speak of.”

“I’m surprised you know about them, but that’s a good thing. My father told me they were once the most powerful coven on earth before they delved too deeply into dark magic. They were then consumed by a malevolent force they sought to control and they emerged from the encounter transformed. Just as you said, they are no longer human but mutts—a hybrid of human and demon. I didn’t know which kind until you confirmed they were dust devils,” I explained. “The problem is, the artifact doesn’t really belong to them. They stole it. My father always had plans to retrieve it, but that artifact wasn’t a pressing issues for him at the time, I guess.”

“Sounds accurate. Last I heard, they are hiding in a magical forest right here on earth,” Dominik said.

We stood in heavy silence for a few moments before Altair broke the quiet. “We’ll do it,” he said, his voice steady and solemn. His eyes locked with the others’ and something unspoken passed between them. “We have unfinished business with them anyway.”

“Let’s do it.” Dominik and Morpheus agreed.

My jaw dropped open in surprise. “You will?” I was surprised they finally agreed to a plan I devised.

They nodded.

A wave of relief washed over me as I realized they had decided to trust me with this mission, however dangerous it seemed.